Brand New Army
by FrostbittenDeath
Summary: Everyone becomes hypnotized and transform into sadistic megalomaniacs with dark intentions, and now the only one who can stop them is...Tails?
1. Prologue

**NOTE:** This story was supposed to take place after The Message: Last Chance was over. Well, it is over. The Message was deleted, along with Same Time, Same Place. I got rid of them not because I didn't like them, but because I was far too focused on other things (EX: school, other stories, home, etc.) and there was no way that I was going to get into them long enough to finish them -- like I did with Psychotic -- so I deleted them. This story might be a little strenuous to work with at points because I typed another version of the same story a while ago, but each chapter is poorly laid out with about 100 to 250 words for each chapter. I'm going to re-write them and add extra parts that combines and conflicts with what I'm writing, just like I did with this chapter. I want to finish this story in a set schedule: two to three weeks. I want it to be completely done in that time.

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog, and I don't own any other characters made by Sonic Team and SEGA. I hate doing that.

* * *

**Brand New Army:  
****Author: The Last Hedgehog On Earth**

Space. Its vast emptiness is so extraordinary. Its mesmerizing beauty and clarity retracted from anything troubling in the slightest. Highlighting clouds of stars that seem to be endless, they seemed to stretch on endlessly which could take you on a fantastic voyage. Blankets of darkness covered the vast nothingness that channeled an absolutely rejuvenating experience; a flawless emulation of the end that will soon come; a vivid description of a small sample of God's power amassed inside of endless sea of stars and planets; the thousands of galaxies that were taken in by the ever-expanding region known simply as "space" was truly breathtaking and ultimately caused everything evil to fade away into complete total nothingness. Nothing could even begin to touch this beautiful vortex. Asteroids that flew in every direction and comets which glowed with feverous intensity zipped past without a trace. The only thing that stuck in the brain from the comet was its tail, but that was insignificant compared to the outreaching black beauty of what lie beyond us; mysterious galaxies, giant planets, and God's everlasting galaxy somewhere, this was the next to Heaven.

Somewhere on a lone asteroid in an unknown nebula, there sit a being, a being whose existence is the very spawn of evil, and could mean death for man and creature. The creature has taken its time to think about its next move. The creature is named Luna the Badger. Her parents are currently deceased, she has one sibling that refuses to go anywhere her, and her home is ruled with prejudice and hate. The creature known as Luna has a red mohawk haircut with extensions flowing out. Her eyes were one of the very things that shocked fear into the soul of some unlucky person, her snout was slightly long and almost surpassed her mohawk in length, and her tail was the longest part of her body. It lay there, motionless on the asteroid, as she sat with one hand thrown over her raised knee, deep in thought.

"Hmm?" Luna thought. "I wonder what I can do. My old army died about three years ago..."

She began to flashback.

"_Luna, what are you thinking?!"_

"_Do not deceive my God!"_

_BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!_

"...yes, I remember that as clear as day. Three years since that fateful day here in space happened. My planet hopping ability had allowed me to rapidly jump from planet to planet and place a powerful explosive in the core of each planet, causing a chain reaction explosion: one, then the next, next, next..." she counted, "...ah, well. They weren't fit to be a good army for me, anyway," she said. "Now, I need to locate members for a new army that I can use to carry out my deeds. I had six members in my last army before they died. What I want to do is gather more members on a planet somewhere, but what planet or galaxy actually holds a planet in which people could actually inhabit? No matter. All I need is for LFS-2 to come back. He had better have found something. He's been gone for too long."

She looked out into the vastness of space, but she saw nothing. The only thing that she found interested was a line of comets that flew past her. Watching the beauties of space helped Luna pass the time, but it wasn't enough. All she could really do was sit on the asteroid and wait. Just then, coming from far off, a noise was heard. It sounded like the hum of a plasma powered engine.

"There you are," she said maliciously.

A shining silver sphere was floating towards her. There wasn't much to say about this little orb. It fit in the palm of her hand. Luna seemed to only use it for spy-type missions. Other than that, she hardly ever used it. This, however, was a special occasion.

"Life Force Scanner – Model 2, what information have you been able to retrieve from your planetary encounters?"

It chirped and a small amount of information appeared for each character:

1) Sonic the Hedgehog

Age: 15  
Sex: Male  
Eye Color: Green  
Species: Hedgehog

Profile: A blue-furred, peach-skinned, green-eyed 15-year-old anthropomorphic African pygmy hedgehog, who has the ability to run faster than Mach 1 (hence the name Sonic) and the ability curl up into a ball, primarily to attack enemies.

2) Miles "Tails" Prower

Age: 8  
Sex: Male  
Eye Color: Light Blue  
Species: Fox

Profile: The name "Miles Prower" is a pun on "miles per hour", a reference to the famed speed of the Sonic the Hedgehog series. He is an 8-year-old orange-golden-yellow, anthropomorphic fox with two tails (similar to the mythological kitsune), hence the nickname. He is known to be Sonic's sidekick and a mechanist. He is able to use his two tails to propel himself into the air like a helicopter for a limited time.

3) Knuckles the Echidna

Age: 16  
Sex: Male  
Eye Color: Purple  
Species: Echidna

Profile: A red 16-year-old anthropomorphic echidna, who is both is physically powerful and highly resilient. He has a white crescent birthmark on his chest. The character is both a friend and a rival to Sonic the Hedgehog. Knuckles' name is derived from the four knuckles, two on each hand, which are actually sharp spikes, and his dominant trait is his strength. He can also glide by trapping air under his dreadlocks, and is very skilled at a wide variety of martial art forms.

She was able to extract more character information like Amy Rose, Shadow the Hedgehog, and Princess Sally Acorn. Luna was very impressed with what she saw. All of these characters would make perfect choices for her army, especially Shadow. He seemed to be the ultimate thing to get things done, but before she got ahead of herself, she had to find out what planet that they were on.

"LFS-2, where are these life forms located?" she asked in a commanding tone.

The infra red scanner lens showed a barely visible, but easily comprehensible version of a small, blue planet that wasn't that far away.

"Hmm, Earth," she thought. "What a very fitting name for such a beautiful planet. So, this is where they inhabit, huh? Perfect," she hissed. "Come, LFS-2. Let's head to Planet Earth and do some excavating for my minions, shall we?" she laughed.

* * *

Chapter 2 will be posted either Sunday or Monday.


	2. The First Victim

Luna made a successful trip to Earth.

And she has found her first victim. Who is it?

* * *

Luna jumped up from the asteroid and began to chuckle. She turned to her robotic companion. "Where is Earth?"

LRS – 2 clicked and beeped. Its sensors began to scan the sky. Soon, a big silhouette of the Earth appeared. She viewed upon it with wide eyes and hands open, full of opportunity. The tiny machine had a lot of power. It's no wonder used him during her search-and-destroy missions. It was able to find anything, no matter how far away. The picture zoomed in to show certain people in separate locations. They looked vaguely like the people that she was searching for.

"Hmm, let's see," she thought. "Sonic the Hedgehog on a hot, sandy area, sitting underneath a cooling, umbrella-like device, drinking an acidic beverage; Miles "Tails" Prower at that same sandy area with Sonic; Knuckles the Echidna on what appears to be an island in the sky; Shadow the Hedgehog in an undisclosed location by some steel tracks; Princess Sally working on a computer in a fortress or castle of some sort; Cream the Rabbit at that same sand area with Sonic; Amy Rose at a shopping convention; someone unknown on a floating island similar to Knuckles' island. I see."

The image of the Earth vanished. Luna knew what she had to do: she needed to get to Earth and acquire these people. She pulled out several small red triggers and a switch that said "ACTIVATION." It also had a camouflage The triggers were about the size of a pea, and they could be activated by the switch, but what did they do?

"Come, LRS – 2. Take us to Planet Earth in the faraway Milky Way," she commanded.

She grabbed the little machine, and held it gently in her hand. As she held it, it began to charge energy from inside. Luna could feel it. She could feel the energy from LRS – 2 coursing from its core to her body. She knew that it wasn't going to be long now before she had all that she needed. Her ambitions were high and her pride was never ending. Her dream was soon to come true. Even though she was over 1,000 light years away from this galaxy, it seemed that Earth was only a mere step away. A new army of total devastation would be awaiting her on this planet. The final countdown on her realizations began and it had justified all that she said before. She thought that she wasn't going to find members for a new army like her old one, but that was out of the question now. No more sitting on a lone asteroid in the outer reaches of space just praying that something will happen. No more giving up hope, waiting for someone to save her. No more jotting down her future events into her memories, thinking that it will happen, because it was all happening at this very moment. There was nothing more to fear. FULL POWER INITIATED. COMMENCING TELEPORTATION. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…

WHOOSH! She was gone.

Traveling at light speed, she surpassed all obstacles in her way. The stars turned into distorted comets that strobed into beams of light that couldn't be seen. Black holes, asteroid belts, planets, and millions of galaxies pooled together and mutated to form one giant sphere of light that flew past her eyes. Radioactive space clouds became floating pieces of ash as she collided with them. She could see her destination coming into perspective; a small, light blue planet that appeared to be covered with distinctive mountains, islands, and land markings.

"What a planet. I never thought that it was so small. I thought that it would at least be a bit bigger. What a waste. I am surprised that anyone could live here on this pathetic excuse for a planet. Let's see," she said.

She felt herself zooming into the Earth's atmosphere, making light of the situation if she didn't stop and pause. She could feel the pressure as the teleportation energy from LRS – 2 was wearing down. She forced herself to stop on a mountain before she crash landed on the Earth's ground. The result caused a shockwave that broke off the tip of the mountain. She made it. This was Planet Earth. As she stood on the jagged edge of the mountain, she gazed upon the current condition of the planet. She was intrigued by what she saw.

"Hmm," she said, "This planet isn't so bad. It seems to have a much better vibe to it, and it resonates with my powers more than most of the other planets that I've been to. The air is so clear," she said. She inhaled it deeply. "Now I can see why my soon-to-be victims love to vacation here. It actually does look like a nice vacationing spot. But," she sighed, "something's missing. There's one thing that this planet needs that nobody has done before. Oh, well. That'll have to wait. Let's go find my victims. LRS – 2, where is Knuckles the Echidna?" she asked.

The little spherical machine scanned the area and it had indicated that the region in which the location of the Floating Island is in the southeast, in the sky. "Very well, then. Let's go there right away. I eagerly await my humble encounter with the first member of my soon-to-be army."

The same energy that was used to get them to Earth was once again going to be used to teleport them to the Floating Island where Knuckles the Echidna resided. She commanded that they go right away. Electric energy could be felt flowing through her veins as LRS – 2 charged the energy within itself, and then – SWOOSH!!! – They were gone in a flash. They disappeared bit by bit, molecule by molecule. Every part of them had been removed from sight.

_The Floating Island..._

Here, among the outer rims of the mountains and valleys, Knuckles the Echidna is lying down guarding the Master Emerald, the ultimate jewel that can control the energy of the Chaos Emeralds and cause any being that has it to be granted total unlimited power. This is why Knuckles guards it: He knows that people will try to steal this mystical jewel of splendor, so he guards it with his life. Also, this emerald is also the source of energy for the Floating Island. The emerald needs to be in its pedestal in order for the energy to channel and keep the island afloat. Knuckles needed to guard this thing with his life, considering what was heading his way.

He felt some strange energy approaching. "What's that energy I feel?" he said. He looked around him in all directions, but nobody was around. "It's dark energy. Very dark energy. It's heading this way. Well, whoever's coming, they're not getting the Master Emerald without a fight!"

The dark energy that he sensed was slowly but surely approaching the home of the Master Emerald. It had to have been Eggman. He always wanted it for his own evil deeds. Maybe he had something or someone with him that had this immense power that made him tremble in fear. He still held his ground, because no matter what had come to take the Master Emerald, they weren't going to get it. He had to defend it no matter what.

"Come on, Eggman! I'm ready for you!" he called. "Don't be a coward! Come on out, Eggman! Show yourself! You know that you're no match for me!" he called out again. Finally, the silhouette of the person that was coming has become clear as they landed softly of the ground of the island. Well, he was right. Someone was coming, but it looked nothing like Eggman. It looked like a girl. She was pretty attractive, but she had this thing about her that seemed to put Knuckles under the impression that this is the one with the dark aura that he sensed.

When Luna landed, she took a moment to glance upon the Floating Island. Pillars, old statues, some shrines were all around. "Hmm. This place is a lot smaller than I thought," she said, unimpressed by what she saw. She continued to watch the skies and scan the land. Knuckles called out to her.

"Hey! Who are you?" he said. His calm speech grew to shouting as she refused to answer. "Hey! Who are you?! What's the big idea just blasting onto my island and ignore me when I'm trying to talk to you?"

She continued to spy the clouds and the land before her. There wasn't mush to see in her eyes. _This place is pathetic,_ she thought. _I thought that this place would be a little bit better than this, and from what I heard, this place used to be a wonderful, exotic island in the sky. Many powerful echidnas lived there, including the wise, yet very power-hungry __Chief Pachacamac_._ They were all very proud of their heritage and the legendary power known as the Master Emerald protected by the young guardian, Knuckles the Echidna. This must be that same one from the past. _

Knuckles became furious. "HEY! ANSWER ME! How can you just ignore me, while coming onto MY Floating Island, and just stand there without saying anything?! Are you deaf or something?! Well, let me explain. I'm the guardian of the legendary jewel known as the Master Emerald. This special emerald has the power to neutralize the energies of the seven Chaos Emeralds so then that way, they won't overpower themselves, and this emerald provides this island with the energy it needs, so it doesn't plummet into the ocean. So, whoever you are, if you're not here for any reason at all, I suggest that you leave and let me continue my job!" he yelled.

_So, this is Knuckles, _she thought. _My thoughts were correct. He looked familiar, and from what LRS – 2 showed me, he looks like that same Knuckles the Echidna. His place in history speaks for itself._

Knuckles couldn't stand it anymore. This stranger was just standing there, unmoving, unspeaking, and uncaring. He told her, "Hey! Did you hear what I said? Leave this island now, or I will have to use force!"

"I just want to talk, that's all," she said.

"Talk about what?"

"Let's talk about…oh; I don't know…you, for example."

"Me?" he jumped. He thought that she was nuts. "Heh, he chuckled, "and what exactly do you know about me? You don't even know who I am."

"Oh, really? Are you sure?" she said, menacingly. It was time for her to prove him wrong. "Well, where should I start? How about this? Knuckles the Echidna, last of the ancient echidnas and guardian of the "legendary" Master Emerald; Powerful warrior, with punches that can penetrate solid rock. Also, you possess martial arts skills; Legend, known as being a living, breathing Chaos Emerald after intense radiation from the Master Emerald's power during your childhood; Failure, you have let the constant smashing and stealing of the Master Emerald become chronic over the years, even having the shards being lost in space. See?"

Knuckles was stunned. "H-how did you know all that?"

"I've been carefully inspecting you from the heavens. You see, I guess that you could call me a watcher of some sort."

"A watcher?"

"That's right, Knuckles. I keep my eye on you, constantly watching what's going on within the boundaries of the planet. I've been watching everything what's been happening, staring down upon certain people such as yourself, Knuckles. My eye never leaves this planet's sight. Do you understand?"

"No way," he said, rubbing his head. He was scratching his head, completely confused by this whole situation.

"Sure, you don't," she said. She began to walk towards him, hip swaying from side to side.

"Hey, you! Don't you come any closer! I mean it! There's no way I'm letting you get the Master Emerald, so just forget about it!"

"Oh, I don't want the Master Emerald. I want you, Knuckles."

Knuckles thought she was insane. "What did you say?"

"You're so cute."

"What are you talking about?" He thought that she was joking, but the way she said it in that sexual tone like that, it sounded like she really meant what she said. He stood there, paranoid and shaking. He still had to protect the Master Emerald. By the time he looked back up to gather his nerves, she was right there in front of his face, staring at him.

"You're shaking like a leaf, aren't you?" she toyed. "Does that mean you're afraid of me? Yes? No?"

Knuckles really was shaking like a leaf right now because not only did she know who he was, she also knew his past childhood, his powers, and his history. It was like she was some kind of alien from another planet. He wasn't going to have it. He took all of his strength and condensed all of that power into his fists. He was charging up while Luna was standing there right in front of him, smiling a devilish grin. _Well, _she thought, _I think that I have found my first victim._ When he was all done charging, he growled at her feverishly and tightened his grip. He arced his hand back and prepared to swing. All of the velocity went in his arm as he prepared to swing with all of his might. Perspiration dripped from his face to the ground, creating a small puddle of sweat beneath his feet. His dreadlocks began to rise and his tail straightened out, pointing straight upward. He was finally ready to strike. With all of the energy in his one fist, he began to swing at Luna, but she quickly countered with her nails as she sliced him hard across the face. The velocity of the scratch pushed him backwards towards the Master Emerald's shrine. He was unconscious and bleeding. _That's it? Aww. I thought that you would defend yourself._

Luna analyzed his person and realized that he would most definitely be a very prominent first choice for her upcoming army. "Yes. I like who I have picked. He is very strong, very determined, and well developed. It fits him well. It will also fit me well," she said. "Let's see, where did I leave them?" She search around and picked out one of those little red triggers. She placed one on his forehead and took out the switch that activates them. _I can't activate them yet, _she thought. _I have to find all of my victims, then I can activate them._ She decided to camouflage them so that way, they wouldn't feel it, nor would they see it.

"Thank you for cooperating Knuckles. Au revoir.

_To be continued…_

* * *

Chapter 3 to be completed Saturday or Sunday.


	3. Mistake?

Luna's got her first victim.

She knows who the second one is, but instead, she gets something else she didn't want. Was it good or bad?

* * *

Luna was all done with Knuckles. There was nothing that he could do. Literally. He was on the ground unconscious and bleeding, he had a now invisible micro-trigger on his forehead, and the switch used to control it was held in the hands of the most heartless villain that he had ever come across. She wouldn't hesitate to press it. She had her finger on the button. Her finger was like a hairpin trigger, just waiting for the right opportunity to show Knuckles that she was serious, but she was already done that, so she proved her own logic to be null and void. How clever! Now that Knuckles was out of commission, it was time to find her next victim.

"Hmm. Thank you very much, Knuckles. I'll test your _true_ strength later, my sweet echidna," she taunted, then she batted an eyelash. "Now then, who should I go after next? Sonic, Tails, Amy, Sally?" she laughed, delirious with joy. "It's so exciting! I can't decide! Let's see, let me think about this. Sonic the Hedgehog must be the hero of this planet. He always foils his arch nemesis' plans, which is Dr. Ivo Robotnik. Sonic has saved the world countless times from Dr. Robotnik's many different plans to destroy the Earth," she said. _Many times..._ she repeated in her head. "Many times? Well, sorry Sonic. I hate to burst your bubble, but you won't be able to save the Earth this time around because your little friend, Tails, will be completely under my control! I know that you wouldn't hurt Tails. There's no way you could! Hahahahahaha!" she laughed evilly. She pointed a long nail at her robotic companion. "Where is Sonic, LRS – 2? I request his immediate location."

SCANNING...SCANNING...SONIC'S LOCATION IS KNOWN AS EMERALD COAST; APPROXIMATELY 400 MILES AWAY FROM THIS CURRENT LOCATION; SENSORS ALSO INDICATE THAT ANOTHER LIFE FORM IS AQUAINTED WITH HIM.

"Who is it?" she asked.

IT IS MILES "TAILS" PROWER; CHARGING INTERNAL ENERGY FOR TELEPORTATION.

"Hmm. He has a strong bond with Sonic. He is like a little brother to Sonic, and would love nothing more than to grow old and die right next to him. How sweet. Hmph! At least he got _half_ of that right!" she joked. "That's Sonic's weak spot. Tails will be my next victim. LRS – 2, let us go to Emerald Coast."

COMMENCING TELEPORTATION; 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1...

She grabbed LRS – 2. Her long nails latched around him like a prison cell and locked him in place in her hand. She could feel the energy flowing through her. They were just about ready to teleport when she looked up in the sky and noticed that the sky was orange like a fresh orange. "What? It's almost twilight already? I didn't think that this planet's time lengths were so fast. On other planets, it would have taken a lot longer for it to translate from night to day then this," she said, puzzled. "Well, I know that I can use this to my advantage," she smiled, "and I know just the way to do that."

_ZZZAAAPPP! SHHOOOOSH!!! _They were gone.

_Emerald Coast..._

Ah! The beautiful, quaint relaxation of the beach known as Emerald Coast. It's always the way to clear your mind after a long day. The christening feel of the meandering ocean waves splashing against your feet; sounds of the seagulls calling overhead as you sat underneath a shady umbrella; the warmth of the tens of thousands of grains of sand shifting and moving upon your bare feet; the sun's rays shining down upon as the ice cold waters splashed your exposed skin, making you feel serene and lively. It was enough to make anyone feel young again. Sonic sat, laid back on a nearby foldable chair with his dark sunglasses on, sipping from a cool, dripping glass of lemonade. He and Tails were relaxing together. Tails was right next to Sonic building a sand castle. He was having trouble building it fully, though, because of passing children and adults accidently running segments of it over constantly. He put his head down and sighed.

"Sonic, can you help me with my sand castle?" Tails asked Sonic.

He turned his head, raised his sunglasses to his ears, put his drink down on the table to his right, and chuckled. "Come on, Tails. You can do it. I know you can," he said.

"But, Sonic, people keep knocking down parts of it, and I won't be able to completely finish it before dark. It's almost fully dark anyway."

"Aw, Tails. Don't tell me you're afraid of the dark, are you? Trust me, no one else will knock down your castle. I mean, look. The sun's almost gone, and just about everyone has left by now. I can guarantee you that no other person will knock down that sand castle while I'm here."

Tails became elated fast. "Thanks, Sonic!"

"No problem," he said. Just then, he took a small sample breath and knocked down the flag on the very center tower of the castle.

"Hey! Watch it, Sonic!" Tails laughed.

"It wasn't me! It was the wind!" Sonic joked.

"Yeah, right, Sonic. Next time, I'll snatch those sunglasses right off your head!"

He picked up the red flag and put it back on top of the castle. As it was getting darker, there was little light shining over the horizon. Tails was worrying. He didn't want it to get too dark. Well, with the way that things were moving right now, he was definitely going to finish his sand castle in time without any distractions. Little did he know, he was going to receive a big distraction. There was a shift in the temperature not too far off. The shift in pressure could be felt by Tails, but not Sonic. He was too relaxed. He looked around to see what it was. He saw nothing but sand and the reflections of the shadows from the foldable chairs that lie on the beach. He concluded that nothing was there, and went back to building his sand castle. Then, a figure appeared where the shift was felt. She had made it. Emerald Coast. She had never seen a beach, or anything like this before. This was a first for her.

"Hmm. So this is Emerald Coast? This is where Sonic and all of his little friends like to hang out after they get done defeating Dr. Robotnik? I must admit, it is a pretty picture. There aren't many planets out there like this one. This one is very unique. There are a lot of humans here. Humans inhabit this planet, as well? This is the most confusing planet I've ever been to," she said. "No matter. I just need to get what I have to get, and leave."

Small groups of people were leaving the area. Groups of men, women, and children were leaving with their belongings in hand. Some of them that passed by noticed Luna standing in the sand looking straight forward. One child who really liked Sonic and his friends saw her. She looked like one of them, so the child decided to say hello. He approached her.

"Hey, you're one of Sonic's friends, aren't you?" the boy asked. "My name is Matt. When I grow up, I want to be just like Sonic! You sure look like you know him, because _you're_ one of his friends. What's your name?"

Luna stood there staring at him with eyes piercing the boy. He was wearing a blue shirt with Sonic on it, along with the logos of all of Sonic's friends and allies.

The boy's parents came over and grabbed him. "Um, Matt," the father chuckled nervously, "I think that we ought to go. She doesn't at all look happy to see you, and besides, she might not be a friend of Sonic. She might not like him very much."

"No way, dad! Everybody likes Sonic! Let's stay! She's about to tell us something. So shush!" he told them. They listened to him and decided to stay. They stood directly in the face on the evil villainess. She stood them down with a stare that would make the most fearsome giant bow down in fear. The two parents began to shake and cower as they began to step backwards. The child began to cry. Luna's eyes began to slowly turn red as she stared at them with her evil aura. The group got together and ran as fast as they could without looking back at that monstrosity.

"Humans," she scoffed. "I don't want to meet another." She shuffled her eyes around for what she could find. She was losing focus until she felt a burning sensation in her body. She was overflowing with power and she began to glow like a floodlight. Her power was fluctuating wildly. It was like it happened out of nowhere. That sudden burst of energy emerged like an emergency trigger being flipped to "ON" suddenly. She raised her head and noticed that the sky was completely black. The only thing that was lighting the blackened sky was the moon, which was full and round. "Yes! I can feel the power running through my veins, making me stronger than before," she laughed. She rubbed her body. "I love this body! Glowing is wonderful! I glow bright like a nightlight! This must be this planet's moon. I can definitely tell, because it's the only one I've seen when coming here. It's time to claim Tails."

"Whoo!" he exhaled. "Finally finished with my castle. I thought that I'd never finish with this castle. Well, I'd better go get Sonic up so we can finally go."

Luna looked at Tails and thought about it for a second. She didn't see Sonic around anywhere to protect him, so it seemed that she was okay to act. It wasn't like he was going to do anything to stop her at night, because she was too strong at night. She began to slowly walk towards him, smiling evilly. Tails began to get up, but then he noticed a bright, white glow of light coming towards him. He didn't know what it was. Maybe it was a person. He stood there baffled until a passing cloud overhead blanketed some of the glow and he could clearly see what it was. It was someone he didn't know, and she looked really scary to him. Tails gasped and tripped over an exposed turtle shell. He fell back in the sand onto his castle. She saw what he had done. "Oh, I'm so sorry. Was that yours? It seems that all that work you did went to waste, didn't it?" Tails heard that voice, and he became startled immediately.

"W-wh-who are you?" he nervously asked.

"Someone who wants to take care of you," she lied. "Come on, Tails. I won't hurt you. Just come into my arms and be the son I never had." Tails quivered and shook like a leaf in the wind. He didn't know what to do. He was backed into a corner with nowhere to run. He was trapped like a prisoner. At any time like this, there was only one thing to do. "SONIC! HELP ME!" he yelled. Luna took out a little red trigger and held it to Tails' face. "Don't worry. I'm not going to hurt you, Tails." He shelled himself up in a ball with his eyes closed tightly shut. She was almost there. She almost had him. Then, as if out of nowhere, Sonic zoomed past her with Tails in his hand running across the water.

"That was too close! Thanks, Sonic," he sighed heavily.

"No problem, Tails."

Luna was very dissatisfied. "Damn it! I missed Tails! I couldn't have missed him!" Just then, LRS – 2 scanned the area where Sonic picked Tails up and the area where the trigger was just before she missed her target. MAIN TARGET MISSED; SECONDARY TARGET CAPTURED. Luna overheard those words and she was even more disappointed. Who in the world did she capture? She didn't know. She only wanted one target: Miles "Tails" Prower. But, she decided to ask who it was.

SECONDARY TARGET CAPTURED; TARGET'S NAME: SONIC THE HEDGEHOG.

"So, that was Sonic? Wow. I've never seen such speed. It amazes me. But, he wasn't the one I wanted," she concluded. "Wait. I noticed Sonic's dedication for Tails, and I also noticed his extreme speed. That was very impressive. Just in case I did, I had better make sure that that one is camouflaged."

As Sonic was running across the water, Tails noticed that Sonic had something on his palm that soon disappeared in front of his eyes. He needed to talk to him. "Hey, Sonic?

"Yeah?"

"What's that on your hand?"

Sonic looked at his palm as he was running. He closely looked, and he saw nothing. The only thing he saw was white because it was his glove. Nothing was on it. He pushed his hand back forward and focused on running. "What do you mean? I don't see anything on my hand. Are you sure that it's not your hand?"

"No," he shrugged.

"You know what, Tails? I think that you're stressing too much. You're still freaked out by that girl back there, aren't you?" he guessed. "I'll tell you what. In the morning, we'll go and get some ice cream together. Deal?"

"Sure!" Tails exclaimed, smiling.

Back on the beach, Luna stood on the sand in the night, glowing bright white, and laughing out loud. "Hmmhmmhmmhmmhmmhmm...AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! I've got Sonic the Hedgehog, and I didn't even want him! I really wanted Tails, but I got something better...by accident! It was all completely by accident! Oh, well. Accidents happen!

_To be continued..._

* * *

Chapter 4 to be completed Thursday or Friday.


	4. The Dream

Luna has a good time enjoying what she has achieved.

Later, she has a very strange dream...

* * *

Luna stood in the sand and laughed and laughed. It had seemed like this mistake that she had done wasn't intentional, but completely necessary. The person that she wanted she didn't get, but in her eyes, she got something better than her main target; a speedy blue hedgehog that was fully committed to helping the ones that can't defend themselves. Perfect. She looked towards the black sky and laughed wildly at her accomplishment. "Yes! Yes! Yes!" she chanted happily. "Even though I didn't get the person I originally wanted, that's okay. I got something better. This is a wonderful mistake!" she laughed. "Who to get next? I don't know! I guess I could get anybody I want at this point! I'm stronger than them all anyway! HA!!!" she boasted. She walked to her left and sat on a boulder protruding from the sand. Then she calmed down and thought about what her next move was going to be as she glowed in the dark like a giant candle. Just then, she began to think about her old army from the past and what happened.

"_Luna, we found another set more planets to annihilate; the six linked Reptilia Planets; an easy target."_

"_Yeah!"_

Flashes contorted her memory and messed with her train of thought. "Damn it!"

"_What are you doing? Stop this! You have gone crazy!"_

"_Only a fool would stand before my God!"_

_BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!_

Her brain crashed. "Damn it! Stupid memory loss. It just pops up at random times. I hate it so much. Oh, I should try to keep that off of my brain. It'll just distract me from my main objective. Now, let's think about this for a minute," she said. "I've got Knuckles the Echidna, and Sonic the Hedgehog. Who should I get next?" she thought, moving her long nails across her face. "I want Amy Rose, Cream the Rabbit, Shadow the Hedgehog, and Princess Sally Acorn. I can go after Amy next. I suspect that she is not too far from here in the industrial area that I saw; then I can get Princess Sally, then I can get Shadow the Hedgehog, finally I can claim the other two. For now," she yawned, "I'm just going to take a nap here until the sun breaks the night."

She then put her head back and shut her eyes. She rested her hands behind her head and laid her legs straight forward. She laid flat on the boulder, glowing brightly light a nightlight. The wind gently blew across the beach sands, lifting up grains of sand and tossing them towards the water. The all-around silence situated the mood because nobody was around. The wonderful silence sounded like music to her ears. This is what she wanted to hear as she was sleeping peacefully. Her subconscious could fully comprehend her success and what she would accomplish by hacking into her victim's minds and using them to her advantage. It made her feel so good inside. She then proceeded to dream and go to a cocoon of ambition and sudden sensations. Her brain became a dream weaver of infinite possibilities. She began to imagine a world controlled by her and her brand new army. Inside her subconscious, something was happening.

"All citizens of the Earth kneel down before me! I am the new ruler of this planet! Your governments and your rules are weak and powerless! Your monuments have fallen, and your Gods have betrayed you! Bow down before your new ruler, Luna the Badger!!!"

"Oh, Supreme Master Luna?" a possessed Knuckles asked.

"What is it, Knuckles, my slave?"

"Shalst we conquer Maquie?"

"Maquie, the planet in which...Yashima lived?" She became scared and frightened. She became entangled in a web of self-resentment and jealousy. A giant tidal wave washed over her little world of happiness that she used to have, and it ate her. It devoured her and tore her apart slowly as she screamed and exploded inside. She shook and rattled in frustration as it ravaged and spread like a virus. The pain was unbearable. Not even her new commanding army could do anything to help. What could they possibly do? There wasn't anything possible that could be done at this point to persuade her that all of this mischief was going to solve all of her problems. She liked it, and she loved to destroy, but thinking about her old army gave her second thoughts about all of this. _What's happening? I can't control my thoughts. I can't stop thinking about them. Every time I do, it hurts me even more. Stop disintegrating my thoughts, damn you!_ She screamed in her mind. An equally possessed Amy Rose stepped forward to her.

"What beist wrong, Supreme Master Luna? Art thou feeling not well? Dost thou feelest the need to recover abandoned ones? Dost thou needest a requiem for thine hardships?"

"No, none of that, my slaves. You all have served me well. It's just…I am being haunted by my past." As her back was turned, her new slaves suddenly disappeared. "The hauntings of my mind are best to be taken into consideration by you all. I do not wish to participate in anything that ever so slightly resembles the past. If I do, the core of my heart will fall into oblivion, and I will be no more. I must forget about the past. I will now leave it with you," she said, rubbing the hot sweat her forehead.

She felt as if everything was going in reverse. It all had to get better from this point. The memories were hurting her royally. It wasn't like blowing up a planet. It wasn't that simple. It wasn't like she could just make it all go away. But, she just had to forget about it otherwise it would hurt her for the rest of her life. She rummaged through her thoughts and she ran through them like a file cabinet and tossed out the past amid sighs or relief. When she turned around, she noticed her old army in front of her, staring at her with omniscient eyes. It seems that she didn't throw her past away completely -- in fact, it was standing right in her face. All six of them.

"Luuunnaaaa…" one voice mysteriously said.

"We didn't disobey you," quivered another.

"What? Of course you did! You blatantly disobeyed me. I commanded you to do something for me, but you refused to! You acted untrustworthy…right in front of my face," she growled.

"Let us speak to you," the spiritual form of one of Luna's original members reached her hand forward and gripped her mouth. "The past that you have originally made, you will remember. But the future that you wish to see…will be for naught." The spirit loosened its grip. Luna began to fall down, down, down into the vast emptiness of space. As she fell, her body began to go limp from the lack of air she was receiving. She closed her eyes. She was slowly dying as she fell past the deteriorating condition of Earth that she put it in. The end was fast approaching her. She was dead at this point falling through this void of nothingness known as space. She fell faster and faster until she made her crash landing of a lone star. It burned. It stung. A thousand fiery tongues were licking away at her corpse. She slowly sunk into the cesspool of fire. She slowly disintegrated away into emptiness, but it was okay, because she was already dead. She couldn't feel anything anyway. Maybe this was the best way to go, dying from ongoing collision with a star. There wasn't any other way that suited her. She was melting. Skin peeled from the bones. Bone marrow broke and turned into jelly. She was gone. A bright light signified the end of her journey…

Luna shrugged and awoke from her dream. She was breathing heavily, looking nervously back and forth, and sweating like a dog. Her eyes widened as she griped her knees and shook nervously. "It was only a dream. But, it felt so real. I could hear those words as clear as day. It was scary. Thank goodness it's still night."

_To be continued…_

* * *

NOTE: I will no longer be posting due dates for future chapters because I just can't get them done in time to post them. I'll post them whenever I can.


	5. Unknown Individual

Luna is just awoken and is on her way to get her next target.

But, she meets somebody suspicious. Who is this stranger?

* * *

"Only a dream. Thank goodness. I thought that I really had died. But there's no way that could happen," she nervously chuckled as she glowed intensely. "I had better get some more sleep." Just as she laid back down on the boulder, there was a bright, yellow ray of light that penetrated the darkness. Luna squinted her eyes. She creaked on eye open with her hand shading her face. The sun rose up over the horizon, making the darkness of the night fade away. The brightness increased slowly over time. Shades of sunlight lit up the ground. Where shades of black used to be, there were now blankets of sunlight. Pools of light bounced off of streaked glass and collided with the water, thus having the sun's reflection showing in the water. Luna pulled back and covered her face because of the sun's intense brightness. She let out a groan as the sun partially blinded her. She was paralyzed for a few seconds before she picked herself up from the boulder and analyzed the beach.

"What happened to my glow? Oh, that's right. I had nearly forgotten about the day-to-night transitions of this planet. They are all beyond any comprehension or any form of understanding," she said sarcastically. "Now then, who did I say that I was going to get next?" she asked. Her mind was still a bit fuzzy from last night, but she quickly rearranged her thoughts and continued on. "Oh, yes! Amy Rose. She should be in the industrial area with all of those human artifacts and architects. LRS – 2, awaken from your slumber! Where is the individual known as Amy Rose located?"

LRS – 2 was in Sleep Mode. Its small spherical shape had now degressed into an even smaller spherical shape, motionless and seemingly dead. But, what sense could that make? Robots don't die. Do they? Upon hearing its master's words, it awoke from its Sleep Mode and quickly rebooted to begin its commands. WORKING…WORKING…REBOOTING COMPLETE. READY TO RESPOND.

"LRS – 2, I ask you, where is the individual known as Amy Rose located?"

SEARCHING…SEARCHING…SEARCHING…

Luna waited for a response from the machine.

SEARCHING…LOCATION CONFIRMED.

"Thank you. Where is she?" Luna asked. She was unable to contain her excitement.

VICTIM #003: AMY ROSE; LOCATION: STATION SQUARE; SPECIES: HEDGEHOG; GENDER: FEMALE; VICTIM'S GENERAL LOCATION IS LOCATED APPROXIMATELY 5,000 FEET AWAY; EXACT DOCUMENTED LOCATION: NEW STATION SQUARE MALL.

She was so proud to hear that kind of response from her companion. It was now only a matter of time before everything went her way. "Hee hee hee," she chuckled evilly. "I think that it's time that I pay a little friendly visit to Ms. Amy Rose."

As she was about to transport away with her robotic companion, she heard a rough, gritty sound. It sounded like the slow patter of feet sliding against the sands of the beach. Was someone following her? She didn't want that to happen. Was her dream coming true? _That _was never going to happen, no matter what! She nervously looked behind her and noticed a girl that had a light brownish skin tone; very black eyeliner around the edges of her eyes, shiny, yellow, glistening hair that reflected of the gleaming sunlight; purple high-heeled shoes; red, shining, ruby eyes; very large ears that could hear from a long distance, and a noticeably small stature. She had very little clothing on. In fact, the only clothing she actually had was two cloths that covered her front and back that had a square turned to an angle on them. Luna had no idea who this girl was; in fact, she wanted to know what the stranger was doing here at this beach at this particular time. The girl stood in the hot sand and stared at the clear blue sky. She just stood and stared at it. What was she thinking? Why was she just standing in the sand, staring at the sky above? It didn't make any sense to Luna. She turned around and stared at the stranger, because she was sure acting strange, just staring up at the sky with no motive or explanation as to why she was doing this.

The stranger stared up at the sky for 5 minutes before she was interrupted by an outburst from Luna, who was getting very irritated. "Hey! What are you doing, just standing there staring at the sky? What's your problem? And besides, you shouldn't even be here!"

"Why should I answer to the likes of you? You'd never understand what I go through," the stranger snapped.

Luna gasped in "shock." "Wow, rude much! Very funny, Little Miss Smart Mouth. Do you have anything else to say that you wish to degrade me with?" she said. She was slowly stepping toward the stranger. "Well, how about it? Any other smart-ass comments that you wish to throw in my face? Huh?"

The female stranger quickly turned around and lashed at her. "Leave me alone! I refuse to speak to anyone! Can't you understand that? I've had too many curses placed upon my fragile life every single day, I feel like I'm already destroyed! Must you add on more burdens to my life that I do not need nor want?!" she lashed out. She needed to calm herself down before she spoke again, so she quickly relieved herself and sighed. "You see, I lost my parents a few years ago, but that's not what's bothering me to death. My real mother is out there somewhere, but I don't know how to get in contact with her. Something that happened in the past caused me pain and hurt because it reminds me of her every day, and every day I have to live with the consequences of having nobody to love. The pain is so unbearable. I don't know what to do next. Maybe the Gods can give me a sign," she smiled.

Luna laughed out loud, which started from a silent chuckle, to a large outburst of laughter. She laughed so hard, her eyes began to water. "Are you serious?" she laughed, wiping the tears from her eyes. "You're absolutely serious? You just can't! You can't! Don't tell me that you're sad because of _that! _It's so pathetic! Your parents died, huh? Did they die because of your insecurities? People's parents die every day. They turn out fine," she retaliated. "I know. I've experienced it firsthand."

"You don't know what I've been through!"

"Been through?! HA!!! Been through?! What you've done is get a scratch on your knee. All you need is a band-aid to make the boo-boo better! What you described to me was an infinite, never ending black hole that you caused because of your own insecurities!" she laughed. The stranger was getting angrier and angrier as she clenched her fists and teeth together. "Don't tell me that you've been to Hell and back! There's no way that you could have! Pbft! If you went to Hell and back, you wouldn't have described this situation that you created for yourself. Dead parents? As if! The only thing that's dead here is you!"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!!! Don't ever…EVER…say that to me again!" she snapped.

"Oh, really? What exactly are you going to do? Cry on me?" she laughed. She began to put her hands over her eyes and tell a fake sob story, mocking her. "Oh, please, help me. I've created a future that doesn't want to help. I've been living in the past for all of my life. I've been weak and feeble because I refuse to try. Will someone please help me to do nothing?" she mocked. "HA!!! Complete and utter garbage!"

"Shut your mouth. I don't want to hear your damn voice again."

"So? What are _you_ going to do?"

They both stood facing each other. The stranger stood on the far right, anger coursing through her veins and her mind focused on one thing. Luna stood calm and collected. She knew what she had found and she thought to herself, _Yes. Another victim._

_To be continued…_

* * *

Chapter 6 is in progress. I'll be some time trying to come up with new material for Chapter 7 as well. Later.


	6. Hold Still!

Luna's encounter with the female stranger begins very rough.

Something is then said that encurs the wrath of Luna.

* * *

Luna stood at the other end of the beach, arms crossed, tail waving, and eyes with that same malicious look staring the stranger down. She knew that by this time, she would have been successful in her search for another victim, but this one wouldn't be easy to capture. She could tell that this one had determination and vigor swelling inside of her, and she wasn't going to go down without a fight. Luna wasn't necessarily going to give it her all, because she didn't want to kill her before it was too late, so she decided to use a generally small amount of her energies. "I see that this girl is very determined and won't go down that easy," she reviewed, "nor does she look like the person who would quit and give up. I like that quality. At least I'll have some kind of challenge. After all of this boredom, I may actually find someone who can fight back. Delicious."

The stranger was thoroughly prepared to begin her fight with Luna, but first she had to find out what she was whispering about. "Hey! What are you whispering about over there?" she called.

Luna heard her and chuckled. "Excuse me?"

"I know you heard me! What in the hell are you whispering about?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about. I'm not talking to anyone but you."

"Don't play stupid with me! I know that you were whispering something back there behind my back, so I want to know what it is! Answer me! Do you hear me?"

"Yes, yes. I can hear you just fine. Although, I might not later because I might just go deaf because of you screaming too damn much. Do you hear ME?" she mocked.

This caused the female stranger's blood pressure to skyrocket out of the park. She wanted to run over there and give Luna a taste of her own medicine, but that would be coming shortly when Luna was going to get sorely beaten by someone she didn't even know all that well. "No. Not yet. I'm waiting for you to attack first," she threatened.

Luna was surprised to hear this. "Me? Attack first? All right, whatever you say," she agreed. When she was offered the chance to attack and make the fist move, she offered a sort of compromise to the stranger. "Now, don't worry. This will be quick and painless. All you have to do for me is just hold still while I do my thing, then I'll let you go free. Maybe I will, or maybe I won't kill you. Who knows? I might even just kill you and leave your dead, rotting corpse here on the sand so everyone can stare at it in horror. It's your choice now. Do you wish to fight or die?"

The stranger stood silently. She didn't have to think about Luna's "compromise."

"I'm waiting for a response," Luna said, putting a hand to her ear.

"Don't think that you can fool me with you little ice breaker of wanting me to hold still while you slowly kill me. No. It's not going to work like that. There's no way I'm going to hold still and just stand here while you slaughter me; and that's exactly what you're not going to do. You're_ not_ going to kill me, are you? Yes, that's right. I know that you don't want to kill me, because if you do, that'll ruin you little plan that you have in store."

Luna's happiness and calmness quickly turned to anger and confusion. "No, it isn't," she growled, trying her best to conceal her thoughts and defend herself.

"Don't try to play stupid with me. I already know your little plan and what you plan to do with the people that you actually do plan to get. It's funny, actually," the stranger continued, "that after all of this, your plans will be for naught. You don't have anywhere else to go."

She knew that Luna was backed into a corner with nowhere left to go. Luna thought about it for a second and realized that nothing could possibly compare the kind of trouble that she was in. How could anybody except her what she was going to do? That should have been concealed and kept secret. How did she figure it out? Luna was so confused and baffled. Maybe this was someone that she couldn't get. She seemed to have been outsmarted by someone that she didn't even know at all. That was embarrassing. Luna didn't want to believe that her plans could fall apart that fast. If they did, they'd have to fall apart piece by painful piece. She had to find a way to stop her right here and now. Just then, without thinking, she charged the stranger with her claws outstretched at her. She ran towards her at full speed, fully prepared to slice a hole right through this mysterious person. Immediately when she began to charge the stranger, she froze in place. She found it very hard to move. In fact, she couldn't even move at all. She was being held down, frozen in one position with both feet flat on the ground. She tried to make a motion, but she couldn't. Her legs felt like they were being held down with two 1,000 ton blocks as she tried to push herself forward. Her body felt like her flesh had just been ripped from her bones. Her head felt like a gong. Something was constantly banging on it, causing it to ring and pound. She couldn't take anymore of the strain, so she lashed out. "What…did you…do to me?"

The stranger laughed. "What? You look like the smart one. Why don't you figure it out? After all, I _am_ just a stranger."

"Damn you," she said aloud. This wouldn't have been such a big problem if she had noticed what was going on with her thoughts. She couldn't hear them! "What? I wasn't supposed to say that. What have you do to me? Answer me!"

"I've constrained your train of thought. You are unable to perform the various movements that were executable before in your primal state. Your central nervous system has been contorted and misshaped to a void of inaudible control by me. I now control you like a mannequin on strings and wires. You cannot think nor act – in any way – for yourself any longer. In layman's terms, I can now control your mind, and there's nothing you can do!"

"How dare you," Luna growled.

"What a way you use your words, huh? You need to be nicer to the people you meet," she kidded. "Now then, like you say, hold still while I do my thing."

_To be continued…_

* * *

Chapter 7 is in progress.


	7. War

Luna and the mysterious girl go all out. The stranger holds the upper hand for a while.

Then, Luna does something dirty. Also, the girl's name is revealed.

* * *

Luna tried to move out of the way, but she couldn't. The stranger still had her under her infinite control. As the stranger zoomed towards her, she laughed maniacally. She was all ready to attack against a fully defenseless Luna. The stage was set up for their enjoyment. They would be fighting on Emerald Coast, away from everybody else. Nobody would watch the beating that Luna would receive. The stranger ran as fast as she could. They exchanged glances for a quick quarter of a second before she made her move. The stranger quickly slid under Luna's feet, performing a swift sliding kick, thus knocking Luna hard to the ground. Her face fell flat on the hot sand. As the stranger stood behind her, a long sheet of golden yellow hair shifted forward and grabbed Luna's leg. "What?" she said, struggling to get her leg free, but she was still under the control of that horrid person. The next thing she knew, she was suddenly being lifted off of the ground by her ankles and flung over to the other side. She hit the ground with the same intensity as before. She was being swung back and forth against the hot grain of the sand. The hits were constantly repeating as she took damage on her face and back. She landed on very dense rocks, which left dents in her face, and on her back. She narrowly avoided the edges of the very sharp, needle shaped rocks. She received small slices on her face from a few that she passed by. The stranger had her backed up against the wall now, and there was nothing that she could do to save herself. The stranger intensified the strength of the swings. The stranger laughed as she had control of the entire situation, swinging Luna back and forth against the sand with her hair.

"Hahahahaha! AHAHAHAHAHAHA! Come on! Come on, now! Is that it? Is that all you've got? Try to defend yourself!" she yelled. "What's the matter? Can't do it? Awwwww! Are you scared? Don't be scared! It won't last long, now will it?! HA!!!"

Luna was losing. She was being strangled and killed by a nobody; someone who didn't even know her; someone who was worthless in her eyes. It actually kind of scared her. She had never been controlled or beaten by someone. Especially someone she didn't even know or even heard of. Luna promised that once she got loose, that girl would suffer such severe consequences. She was being put off as a joke, just being thrown around back and forth like a useless rag doll. Just then, people started to come with their items and possessions, placing them on the sand. They put their large umbrellas over their heads, laid outstretched on their blue-green lawn chairs, and fell asleep as quickly as they came. All of these people came at the wrong time, especially being that there were kids here. These kids were playing in the sands and splashing in the water. What would little children understand about someone kicking the living crap out of someone? Nothing. They wouldn't be able to understand the brutal beating that she was experiencing. Immediately after coming to the beach, a man slowly walking onto the beach with towel and sunscreen in hand noticed the fight. He raised one finger up and pointed towards them. Many of the other people on the beach began to point and stare. Some of them began to walk forward and make a circle around the stranger and Luna, surrounding them and limiting them to an even smaller ring than they had before. This angered Luna and the stranger. It angered the girl stranger, but it did anger Luna particularly. "So, you people want to treat this like a sports event or something? Very well. If this is what you strive for, I'll turn this fight into a war."

The stranger heard these words. "What's that? A war? You want to turn this into a war, do you?" She found this opportunity very fitting for a full fight. "Fine! If it's a war you want, it's a war you'll get! WAR!!!"

Luna wasn't going to be beaten like this, and she wasn't in any condition to fight right now. She had to think of a plan to escape the stranger's clutches. "What in the hell am I going to do? I can't die like this. I won't allow it! Hmm," she said. She was deep in thought in her head; however, her body was suffering severe bruises and cuts. Her thoughts were fading fast with her physical body, and she had to quickly come up with something. "I've got it. I still have some of LRS – 2's teleportation energies within me. It's the only way to get away from this girl. Let's do it. Hmmhmmhmmhmm." She had very little of LRS – 2's energy, but she could at least teleport. She quickly reacted by slowly shifting her position slightly and teleported out of sight from the stranger. The stranger pulled her hair back to its original length.

"What? Where did she go? She just vanished! How?"

One of the spectators chimed in fear, "Maybe that thing was a ghost!"

"There's no way she could be a ghost, nor could she have had the ability or the strength to teleport. How did she do it?"

"Who knows?" another spectator said.

"It's got to be some kind of trick, or magic, or something!" another said.

"No, wait! I think I know!" a younger, more high-pitched voice said. It was Matt, the same boy that Luna scared away before. He thought that he had something. "She's probably an alien, and she's just as fast as Sonic. She might even be faster," the boy said. He began to ramble. "And, and, and she moved so incredibly fast, that nobody could see her and she teleported away from all of us."

The stranger began to stare at him in disbelief. "Listen. Do you really expect me to believe that pack of lies? Now, go back to your parents," she said with fire in her eyes. Matt was already sent crying in fear by Luna, now it was happening again by someone who he didn't even know. He didn't know Luna either, but at least he got a pretty good idea about her person. He ran from the group of people, crying and fleeing in absolute fear. The rest of the people looked at the female stranger with nasty looks, wondering what had possessed her to make that poor little boy cry. "Oh, I know what you're all thinking: What in the world possessed me to make that poor little boy cry? Why would I ever do anything so incredulous and mean and cruel as making someone shed some tears? Hypocrites. Hypocrites all stand in this circle and lie. You lie about the obvious little fact that you have been making people suffer every day and you have been slaughtering you loved ones and cutting them down with your words, yet you try to hide it? Do you think that I'll believe for a second that you are a righteous person; fully righteous to the words of your God?"

"Yes."

"We know that. You have no right to judge us like this."

"Hmph. Who the hell is going to judge you correctly? Your materialistic possessions and idealistic needs, or maybe it's your harboring halls and mansions and humble abodes? Well, that won't please you because your God is fake."

The citizens gasped in horror. Her words penetrated their bodies and pierced their hearts. They couldn't believe what they heard. She prepared to leave the beach because the people were annoying her, and Luna wasn't getting up. She seemed to have been defeated. "It seems like she's finished. I had better go."

Just then, a voice rose up and spoke, "You know, I must say that that was a very beautiful speech that you gave. I applaud you." The stranger turned around, eyes widened. She couldn't believe what she had heard. Luna was still alive. She rose from the ground like she was never hurt. After that beating that she suffered, she should have been long gone, but no. She was still here. How in the world was that possible? She was beaten to a bloody pulp, yet there she stood, standing up straight. "That was an amazing performance. I have to admit that you had me backed up against the wall. It's funny, too, because this is the first time that I've experienced this kind of pain before. It feels really lifting. Being in space for as long as I have, which seemed like forever, I never felt real pain before, so this is a first for me. I commend you for your brave fighting efforts, now how about it? Let's let bygones be bygones," she said. She held her hand out. The stranger looked at her as if she was crazy. Was she giving up like that? Just like that? It was all too easy. So she grabbed Luna's outstretched hand and shook it. Right then and there, Luna forcefully pulled her and kneed her in the stomach. The stranger kneeled, paralyzed in the sand, holding her stomach and coughing. She looked up from her weakened stance. "What are you looking at? Have you given up already? You said you wanted war? Well, I gave you war," Luna said. Then she sliced her across the face, knocking her upwards. Luna decided that it was time to take action. She jumped up above the stranger, picked out a little red trigger switch, threw it on the stranger's chest, and then immediately after, flipped the camouflage switch. It disappeared in an instant. She believed that she acted too fast to see what if the trigger switch landed. "I hope it landed. I'll have to check." She launched the stranger down to the ground and then landed on the girl. Luna constrained her hands and legs, holding her in place while she searched her for the switch.

"What the hell are you doing to me?" the stranger asked angrily.

"It's like you say, you have to be nicer to the people you meet. Don't forget; hold still while I do my thing. Hmm? Did you all of a sudden forget that? Now, then, my..." She tried to continue, but the girl constantly kept shaking and trying to get loose. Luna tried to make her stop. "Will you please hold still? Now like I was saying, my name is Luna. What's yours?" she asked.

Why did she want to know so bad? It wasn't like she was going to get anywhere. Maybe if she spoke up, Luna would get off of her and she could leave. "Fine. My name is Princess Olmeca."

"Princess Olmeca?"

"Yes, Princess Olmeca. There, I told you my name, now let me up!"

She continually struggled and fought trying to get free. Luna found it hard to hold her for long. She could feel her grip slipping. _This girl has a bad temper,_ she thought._ I have to keep her still._ "Hey! Stay still for a few seconds. I need to see something."

"Well, see it later! Let me go, damn it," she yelled.

_She's really pissing me off. This could've been over a lot faster than this. Come on, damn it. Hold still! I'll never get done like this...wait! I think I see it. There it is! Thank goodness. I thought that I had to deal with her again. I refuse to fight her again._

Luna jumped off of Olmeca, setting her free. As Olmeca turned and walked away, Luna let loose an increasingly evil smile. She chuckled menacingly. Olmeca turned around and looked at her strangely. "What's so funny?" she asked.

"Nothing," Luna lied.

_To be continued..._

* * *

This chapter was a bit difficult to do, but it's done. Chapter 8 will be a dit different.


	8. New Invention

Tails introduces his new invention to Sonic.

However, there's something wrong with this new invention.

* * *

In the streets of Station Square, Sonic and Tails laid back on the wall of City Hall, each holding an ice cream cone in hand. They were both slowly enjoying their ice cream flavors. Sonic had chocolate, and Tails had vanilla. Tails was especially enjoying his. Half of his was already gone, and it wasn't because of the heat. It was pretty hot outside today. The weathermen said that it was going to be a scorching eighty-nine degrees. They weren't lying. It was about ninety-something degrees out. Sonic and Tails were really enjoying their ice cream. They wanted to finish their cones before they melted away because of the vicious heat of the sun. Some of the ice cream had already begun to melt away. The white and brown drops streamed down their gloved hands and fell onto the screeching hot concrete, melting away immediately. Sonic remembered that Tails had told him something last night, but he needed to be reminded of what it was.

"Hey, Tails?" Sonic called, but Tails couldn't hear him because he was far too busy enjoying his ice cream. "Tails!"

"Oh!" he jumped. "Yeah, Sonic?"

"Do you remember what you told me last night?"

"Last night?" Even Tails' mind was a bit fuzzy. It came to him so fast like an atom bomb and went away even faster like Sonic's intense speed. Just then, it came back to him. He remembered what he told Sonic last night. "Oh, right! Last night! Sorry about that. My mind kind of went out the window."

"That's fine, buddy. Sometimes I do that, too," he reassured.

"Hey, can I tell you when we get on the train?"

"Sure. No problem."

They both took the last few remaining minutes of time they had to finish their ice creams. Tails finished his in record time, and he was all set to leave, however Sonic wasn't. He was almost done with his cone, but it seemed like an eternity for him to finish. Tails wanted to leave right away, and Sonic was just wasting their time. This was ridiculous. Sonic was supposed to be the fastest thing alive, yet he was taking a whole year to finish one ice cream cone. Tails' patience was wearing thin only because he wanted to show Sonic something amazing, but Sonic was just wasting their time by taking forever to finish his ice cream. Just then, the train operator spoke over the intercom, which rung all over the city. "The train headed to the Mystic Ruins will be departing in one minute," the voice said. Tails couldn't take it anymore. He grabbed Sonic's free hand and ran into the train station. He ran up the stairway, dragging Sonic behind him, and caught the train in time.

"All aboard! The train is now departing!" one assistant by the train yelled.

"Wait!" Tails called. He pulled out his ticket and showed it to the assistant, who stamped it and told them that it was okay for them to proceed. They ran onto the train's second car and picked a seat right next to the seat farthest in the back of that car. Once everybody was in and seated, the man over the intercom spoke again.

"Everyone remain seated. We will be departing in thirty seconds."

Tails was so excited to show Sonic what he thought was his best things that he's ever invented. He hoped that Sonic would also think the same. Just then, the doors of the train began to close. Steam shot from all directions, which motioned the people that the train was leaving. Once again, the conductor spoke again. "Thank you all for your patience. The train will be on its way to the Mystic Ruins. We will return to Station Square promptly at noon and we will wait for any future passengers. Thank you for your cooperation and have a nice day." With that, they were off to the Mystic Ruins.

Tails was sitting right next to Sonic, peering out the window, viewing the passing skyscrapers and cars overhead that blurred like a washed out painting every time they passed him. In short time, they were out of the city limits. He couldn't see anything remotely relating Station Square. Instead, all he could see was the blue sky; puffy white clouds; and maple, redwood, and conifer trees all passing by his vision. He recognized the conifer trees. They distinctively stood out the most. That meant that they were close to the Mystic Ruins. It was only a matter of time now. With all of the time they had left, Tails decided to speak to Sonic about his new invention. Sonic was lying back in the chair, eyes closed, and head towards the ceiling.

"Hey, Sonic. Sonic," he said. He kept calling 'Sonic,' waiting for a response. Nothing for a whole minute. He had to try again. "Sonic, wake up."

"Ugh. What is it, Tails?" he groaned.

"Sorry for waking you, but I just wanted to give you some information about my newest invention."

Sonic just wasn't in the mood to hear it right now. "You know that would be nice, Tails, but right now is not the best time. Tell me when we get there, alright?"

"Okay," he said, disappointed.

"Hey, cheer up, Tails. When we get to the Mystic Ruins, I promise to listen to everything that you have to say about whatever it is you made, but you have to wipe that ugly look off your face. It's not cool, no matter how you look at it," he said. He smiled at Tails and immediately, and in short time there it was, another smile by the two-tailed fox. Both exchanged smiles for a couple seconds.

"Thanks, Sonic."

"No problem."

The train operator spoke again over the intercom. "Next destination: The Mystic Ruins up ahead."

Tails was giddy with excitement. Their destination was next, and he was so excited to show Sonic everything. He looked out the window and noticed the waterfall, the carts that lead to the jungle, and the cave, which acted as a hideout sometimes; however, the thing that stood out to him the most was his lab. It was still standing and it looked to be in pristine condition. He was surprised that it hadn't fallen apart yet. He hadn't used it in a while, and the only time he actually did use it was to make that special invention that he wanted to tell Sonic about. When they finally arrived to their destination, they exited the train. As soon as they stepped onto the rough, rigid ground of rock and gravel, the train made its leave through the tunnel above them, making its way back towards Station Square. They knew another train was on its way, but that one wasn't coming for at least another hour or so, so there was plenty of time to experiment. They both made their way for Tails' Lab. He decided to tell Sonic what this thing could do and why he needed to know about it.

"So, Tails," said Sonic, "how does this thing work?"

"Well, first of all, let me start off by saying that this is one of the greatest things I could have ever created. I don't think that I could make anything better. Well, maybe in the far future I could, but right now, I know what I've done is amazing."

"Well, then, what is it?" Sonic asked.

"It's a Dual Trigger Mind Controller," he said.

"What does it do?"

"Well, to put it simply, it's like a switch that works with a motion sensitive trigger device. If the trigger device is placed on the victim, it can override the commands sent out by the brain, thus causing a zombie-like feeling, which in turn should turn said person into a mindless slave. However, there is an inverse side to this coin. If the person is already under the control of one of the interface trigger devices, the controller can shut it off, so if you and I were under control but those triggers, someone could just flip the switch and shut them all off at once."

"So what you're saying is that his thing acts like a hypnotizing beam, which causes people to act under the will of the holder of the controller?"

"Right."

"And the holder of the controller also controls the interface devices that block the brain from communicating with the body. When the holder flips the switch, the devices will just all switch off at once. Right?"

"Right."

One part of Sonic thought that Tails was right and that this was one of his greatest inventions; however, another part thought that maybe Tails was conspiring with Eggman. Why would he make a device that acts like a mind-controlling remote controller? It really didn't make any sense. "So, Tails. Have you ever tested this thing yet?" he asked.

"No, I haven't really tried anything yet. Now that you mention it, I think I should perform some tests just to see if it works or not. Thanks, Sonic."

"No problem."

All of a sudden, he was reminded of that strange girl that he met at the beach again. "Hey, Sonic, do you know anything about that girl at all?"

"What girl?"

"You know, the one back at the beach?"

"That girl?" he said. His mind snapped back to the quick flash of that mysterious girl that glowed like the moon. "I don't know, Tails. I barely got a look at her. I don't know. All I know is that she didn't look nice at all. She had this look on her face as if she wanted to kill anyone and anything that she could get her hands on. That's all I saw. I swear."

"That girl scared me, Sonic."

"Well, just forget about her. Try not to think about her."

"All right," Tails happily accepted.

They approached the door of Tails' Lab. Tails pushed the door open and proceeded inside. Sonic followed right behind. There wasn't much to go around being as how the lab was so small. It did manage to house a security system, a small supercomputer, several tanks of energy, and the Tornado. Tails looked around and on the left wing on the Tornado laid the Dual Trigger Mind Controller, a chrome and black plated remote with a flippable switch on the bottom and the picture of Tails' two tails on the center of it. Sonic looked at it and was pretty unimpressed. What could that one little remote do? Wait! He shouldn't judge these things to harshly because he remembers many different remotes like those: small but powerful. Tails took out a small mouse scurrying in a cage. It had one of those little interface trigger devices on its head. He held the remote and flipped the switch on the remote to the right, which read ACTIVATE. Just then, the trigger device on the mouse's head began to blink and glow, which indicated that it was working. The mouse was now under the control of Tails. "Good! It works! Now to try it out. The mouse should hear me clearly and do what I tell it to do. Move left," he commanded. The mouse then scurried to the left under Tails' command. It was working. "Move right." The mouse scurried to the right without hesitation. Tails was proud of himself for making this. He knew that he succeeded and has sure proud of it. He knew that it worked now and it was successfully tested, so he turned it off and set it back on the wing of the Tornado. "Sonic, it works! It works! It...Sonic?"

Tails went out to see Sonic, but he wasn't there. He must have left to rest under the tree by the waterfall, because he usually does that when he has to wait for something for a long time. When Tails began to walk away from his lab door, Sonic came forward with his hand over his head, groaning like had a bad headache.

"Hey, Sonic! Guess what? I tested it out and it works like a charm!" he exclaimed.

"Yeah, I know," he retorted.

"What do you mean?"

_To be continued..._

_

* * *

_

Chapter 9 is in progress. Expect it soon.


	9. Haunting Riddle

After her incident, Luna is finally ready to go and get Amy Rose.

However, some special visitors have something to tell her.

* * *

Luna stood on the beach sand, smiling her dark smile and chuckling softly. She knew that her prize was extraordinary. From what she saw, she got herself a powerful mind-bending princess with a strong sense of logic and much thought. "She was a hassle, but I have her now. She will soon be my slave, mine to command," she smiled. "Now, it's finally time to get Amy Rose." Just before she was about to go, she felt a strange presence.

She lowered her head and looked behind her. She felt a presence, a very mysterious presence that she must have felt somewhere before. Nothing was behind her. Just people on the boardwalk and a lot of clamoring going on, but besides that, nothing looked familiar. "Oh, well. Let's dive into the heart of this industrial wasteland known as Station Square," she said. Just then, the mysterious presence grew in strength. Now she definitely recognized exactly what that dark presence was. Somebody was haunting her. Somebody was trying to make her life miserable and abolish her chance of success. She quickly turned around with an expression of shock and fear locked on her face. She still saw nothing. _I must be going crazy. I must be,_ she thought, _because I'm feeling these things that I know, but can't see. What's going on? _She rapidly twisted her head in many different directions, nervously looking for whatever caused that dark presence to befall her. Still nothing. None of the people could have had it. That was impossible. She looked below her feet, nothing; she looked above her, nothing. In fact, there was nothing around her. There was no sandy ground, no buildings or people, no blue sky, no nothing. The only thing that surrounded her was black. Nothing but black surrounding her. She was alone in this cold black. She looked around and noticed that there was no end to it. She walked to her left. It felt like she wasn't even moving. She turned around and walked to the left. Same thing. It seemed that this darkness had no limits. "What's going on? Whoever you are, I suggest you show yourself!" she yelled. She was yelling at nothing because she heard her echo bounce back at her. It smacked her clear across the face, leaving a bad scar telling her that this was an empty void with no way out. Just then, a voice spoke.

"Luna, do you know where you are at this moment in time?" the strange voice said.

"Well, what do you think?" Luna shot.

"I knew that you would say something like that. I will tell you where we are."

That perplexed Luna the instant the strange voice said that. "What the hell do you mean? We?"

"We are in the very place where all individuals pass on. All of those who see our faces will see something happen in their future, but none have seen our face. You, Luna the Badger, are a special one who will pass on."

Luna was so confused. "What do you mean? Special one? Future prophecies? What does all of this have to do with me?" she asked. The voice remained quiet. This angered her. "Hey! Did you hear me? What does this have to do with me?"

The voice spoke again. "You will discover that in due time."

Luna was so baffled by everything that surrounded her. She was in a black hole made entirely of nothingness, and she was being perplexed with riddles from a mysterious voice with a possibly even more disturbing figure. She didn't have a clue at what the thing looked like. She lost all rationality and train of thought at this point. She screamed at the top of her lungs, hoping to get a response from the voice. "Listen! What is your objective to doing this? You won't get anything from me! All I did was come down to Earth because I wanted to capture some people and use them to create a new army in my favor! Is that too much to ask? Well?"

The voice spoke again. This time, many other voices rung in, chanting a mysterious melody. "No. In fact," the voice said, speaking like a fortune-teller, "you should have thought about that before you made your move...Luna the Badger."

The person who spoke in that mysterious tone of voice revealed itself to Luna. Luna couldn't believe who she saw, or what she saw. It was tough to make it out at first, but it was soon made clear to her. It was a member of her past army, Yashima the Hybrid. She couldn't believe that she was talking to Yashima, a deceased member of an old army in the past that she wanted to forget, but her subconscious wouldn't let her. She was being haunted by her old army, but for what reason? It didn't make any sense to her. She tried to talk to Yashima again. "What is your problem? You shouldn't even be coming back. You were unloyal to...."

"For the last time, Luna, we were not unloyal to you. We were not deceptive, nor were we traitors to you. How can you justify that we did nothing for you when we did everything you asked of us?" she calmly said. "Don't make that same mistake twice with this new army. In fact, you shouldn't need a new army. You should have never killed us for your own insatiable lust for power. That is all that you wanted in the first place. All you wanted was more power and more control. You did not think about what you were to do – wait. Yes, you did. You made the right choice. That choice will lead you to your demise in only a short time."

Luna thought that this was all a big optical illusion, a mind game. She remembered Yashima's mind games and illusions that always baffled the eye. Maybe it was one of those, but it couldn't have been. It felt so real. "What do you mean by that?" she said. She stopped herself. "Wait! I want to show you something," she said. But, there was nothing to show. There was nothing; just vast emptiness. "Do you remember your home planet?"

"Planet Maquie?"

"Yes! Exactly!" Luna exclaimed. "Do you wish to go back there?"

The spirit of Yashima looked at her with strong distain. "Do you really with to appease me with false gifts of joy, comfort, and happiness just to move me or show the kindness that you claim to have shown but never really have? Do you?" she retorted. "You must really be desperate because there are two things wrong with that statement. First problem: You don't have the ability to bring the dead back to life. Second problem: I don't have a home planet anymore. You made me destroy it, remember?"

Luna tried to forget about this whole mess, but they kept messing with her. She couldn't get it out of her head, but she had to try. "Why in the world would you destroy your own planet?" she questioningly said. She spit out that lie just to get Yashima off of her back.

"Don't play dumb with me, Luna. I know. You should have most definitely remembered that I was the most loyal person in your army. I did everything that you ever said. I followed your every command without hesitation. I did not stop and ask questions as to whether I should act on this or not. I did everything you told me. That's when I knew that the "God" that you worshiped had no heart whatsoever. I remember the day that you told me to destroy my home planet and everybody on it and…" she paused, "I acted on your command. I remember this very clearly. I was not as dunce as you thought. I was your most loyal servant. When you destroyed us, you thought that you were safe from a longtime setup for failure and disappointment; however, you forgot one thing," she said. She began to slowly shake her head and chuckle. "It's karma. It's all karma. One day, it's going to come back and chew you up and spit you out."

Luna couldn't believe what she was hearing. Was this all a joke? What was Yashima talking about, and what was she getting at? She decided to question her. "Hey! What do you mean by all of this? You're not making any sense! How in the world do you know all of this?"

"Luna the Badger, you'll never understand. Your overinflated ego will get you killed, just like we. I propose to you a riddle. Solve it before it's too late."

"What?"

"One color, two items,  
Stands out from all,  
Shows victory,  
Not to the enemy."

"That is your riddle. Solve it to see what happens in your future. If you don't, you were warned," Yashima said. She then slowly vanished from sight, along with the rest of the chanting silhouettes of Luna's army. "Your fate is timed by this riddle."

Luna tried to call for them to come back and possibly give her a hint as to what the answer might be, but they were already long gone and she was left in the darkness, holding a cube in her hand. "What the…what did she mean by that? Riddle?" She was left in the dark, felling cursed by something the she couldn't solve. Why did Yashima give her this cube that could only be solved by answering a question? What did she want from her? "Damn you, Yashima."

_To be continued… _

* * *

Chapter 10 is in progress.


	10. Two More Left

Luna finally finds Amy. Her mission is almost complete.

* * *

Luna stood alone in the sun-bathed sand, holding the cube containing the riddle in her hand. She didn't even know what to do with it other than stare at it and try to solve it. She held it in the palm of her hands just looking at it, trying her absolute best to try to solve it. If Yashima gave her some kind of hint as to what the answer might be, this wouldn't be so hard. All she could do was look at it as it mocked her. This cube seemed universal. There could have been infinitely many answers to this riddle, but none of them would be correct; there could be only one correct answer. She growled in frustration. "Damn it! What is the meaning of this cube?" she complained. "Whew. I had better not lose sight of what I came to this planet for. Let's head into the giant industrialized slimeball known as Station Square and get Amy Rose. LRS – 2!" she rung. Her robotic companion flew quickly to her side. "Where is Amy Rose located?"

VICTIM'S GENERAL LOCATION IS LOCATED APPROXIMATELY 5,000 FEET AWAY; EXACT DOCUMENTED LOCATION: NEW STATION SQUARE MALL.

_That's not far from here, _she thought. "Come, LRS – 2. It's time to claim another victim," she hissed. She slowly made her made her way off the beach, and proceeded to the boardwalk. Maybe trying to solve this cube would shave some time off their trip to see Amy. Behind her, all eyes were on her as she walked away. All of the people were staring at her with nodding heads and hate in their eyes. Luna didn't even care what they thought about her because she had even more important matters to deal with, and they didn't involve trying to persuade them differently. As she walked down the boardwalk, her mind blanked out slightly. "Whoa!" she exclaimed. She shook her head rapidly left to right, trying to wake herself up. "Stay on target, Luna. What was I…oh, yeah. LRS – 2," she called. She remembered the cube that Yashima gave her, and wondered if he could figure it out while she couldn't. The glowing cube was still in her hand. She looked at it for a little bit longer before letting LRS – 2 take control. She handed him the cube. He levitated it and scanned it for a few seconds. In time, he calculated every possible solution that could be used, and scanned every single last speck of energy within the cube. Luna hopefully viewed her partner's progress and his actions. It seemed as if he would come up with the answer. Just then...

INVALID PERIMITERS.

Luna was shocked. "What is that supposed to mean? Does that mean that you can't solve this riddle?"

POSSIBILITY OF SOLVING RIDDLE: INCONCLUSIVE.

"Why?"

CUBE IS MEANT FOR LUNA'S SOLUTIONS.

The robot levitated the cube back to Luna's hands. She held it in her hands again and stared at it. She was back in the same place as she was before; locked in a corner trying to solve a worthless cube. She felt that if she were to let this cube thing lag on, she would forget about everything that she ever worked for and just leave without completing the mission, so she decided to change her ways. "Oh, well. I can't let this get to me. It's just a worthless cube that isn't worth my time. This thing has a riddle? What would be the point in trying to solve it if nothing will even happen?" she said. "Although, I am still very curious to solve this thing and find out what it says. I might as well keep it," she shrugged. She accepted what she had and let LRS -- 2 hold on to it. He took it and placed inside of his head. He secured it well. Maybe after all of this, she would forget about it and, in time, she would also forget about Yashima and her past.

With the long walk down the boardwalk finally over, she approached a very urbanized city area bustling with people. She noticed many a number of very large structures, shining from the glare from the sun. There were many people conversating with other people, and there were those that were having conversations with themselves. Also, there were objects that rode across the concrete, wheels pushing them along. They ranged from small to immensely large. Some of them even carried equally large boxes on them with letters on them. Many of them had exhaust coming out of the back of their undersides. Looking at this planet now, it seemed like she could quickly end this mission in only a few seconds, but she was looking for someone very specific, not just little sheep. She loved what she saw. "So this is Station Square. It's a lot bigger than I expected," she said in amazement. "Amy Rose, where are you? LRS – 2, direct us to the New Station Square Mall," she commanded. The robot heard what she said and began to scan the area. Luna followed him. As she explored the area, people began to glance at her strangely. They muttered mean things about her behind her back. It didn't really matter, because once she had her army set in place, it was all over for them. _Make all the cruel jokes and remarks about me you want because soon, Judgment Day will be here, _she thought. _It won't be long now. _She grinned menacingly. Her face perked up. "No, it won't."

She could feel herself getting closer to her next target. It wasn't long now. LRS – 2 said that she was close by now. Luna walked past them all, through the wave of people attacking her, talking trash, and spreading gossip. "Just wait, humans. It's only a matter of time," she said to herself. She walked on, still following her robotic companion, who was still scanning the area. Luna was quickly getting impatient. She thought that he was going to locate her by now. _He's taking way too long. I could have found her long before this. He shouldn't be taking this long. _"LRS – 2, have you determined the location of Amy Rose yet?" she asked impatiently.

NO.

"Well, why not?"

UNABLE TO PROVIDE AN ANSWER.

"What are you talking about? What do you mean that you can't provide an answer to a very simple question? Is your brain malfunctioning? If it is, I suggest that you fix it, because I'm not going to," she said, irritated. She thought that she would never find Amy with all these distractions. She was willing to turn around and search for her later, until she heard some high-pitched voice singing, "I love Sonic!" The high-pitched, annoying voice quickly wore on Luna's nerves. She positioned her hands on her ears, trying to drain out the noise that was spewing from someone's nearby shrilly voice. "What the hell is that ear-piercing noise?" she said. Finally, she saw someone coming across the corner of the building she was next to, singing that dreadful tune. It was a pink hedgehog in red high-heeled boots, a red dress, and red bow over her head; swinging a red and blue purse in hand. _It's Amy Rose. I didn't know that her voice was so terrible. Oh, well. Let's go and claim her. _She found Amy just like that. Through a terrible voice was her victim found. What a coincidence. "Stay here, LRS – 2," she commanded. "I'm going to pay Amy here a little visit," she said maliciously.

Amy Rose was singing in a truly ear-piercing while swinging her leather red and blue purse around in circles.

"I love my Sonic!  
He is my everything!  
If I were to lose him,  
My world would fall apart!  
I love Sonic!  
I love you, Sonic!"

Luna approached her and tapped her on the shoulder. Amy was in her own little world, so she didn't feel Luna behind her. Luna tapped her again, harder this time. This time, there was a response. Amy looked behind her shoulder, and turned around. She noticed some strange looking girl towering above her, looking down at her. Amy was feeling somewhat sick in the stomach right now.

"Hello, Amy."

Amy dropped her purse in fear. "H-how do you know my name?"

"That will all be explained in time."

"What do you mean?"

She began to slowly creep forward. "You'll figure that out soon enough, Amy."

Amy began to feel sweat drop from her face. She was locked in the corner with nowhere to run. This was too much to handle. All she wanted to do was show Sonic her new purse, but this girl was threatening her, and in a very scary way. She even knew her name. She felt as if a million of cockroaches were crawling throughout her entire being. She wanted to say something and save herself, but she had a giant lump in her throat that made it very tough to say anything. It couldn't end like this. She didn't even get the chance to show Sonic her new purse, or tell him of her great time in the New Station Square Mall. It seemed like that was never going to happen. She wasn't going to let this happen to her, so she turned around and ran as fast as she could.

Luna stood and waited. "That's right. Run. Run for your life," she said to herself.

She waited for Amy to cross the corner of the next apartment building. "3...2...1...go." She ran at her fastest speed, faster than most of the cars on the road, and quickly ran into Amy. She grabbed Amy by the arms and wouldn't let go. Amy began to scream and wiggle around, trying to break free. "Let me go! Please! Let me go!" she cried, bawling. Luna was close to laughing. She was actually begging to be released. This was great. Nobody had ever begged to be set free from her before. They usually just submitted to control. But this girl was different. She appeared to be very strong-willed, and it showed in her wild behavior. Luna found it difficult to control her. She needed to hold her down and put the small interface device on her, then it would be all over. But first, Amy needed to stop moving around so Luna could have the time needed to take action. If she got free, she would surely get away. Luna thought of what she could do. She let Amy go, let her get just barely out of her reach, and did a strong high kick to the back of Amy's head. She went unconscious in short time. This gave Luna a big opportunity to strike.

Luna took one of the small interfaces and placed it on her back. She raised her head and said, "Two more left."

_To be continued..._

_

* * *

  
_Chapter 10 was delayed, but I finally got it done. Chapter 11 is coming soon.


	11. Solve the Riddle

Luna finally has Amy Rose in her grasp.

But not before she decides to try to solve the Yashima's riddle.

**NOTE:** Stupid writer's block. This is what I had a few times about halfway through this chapter. Oh, well. I'll definately fix that. Anyway, enjoy the chapter.

* * *

"Finally!" she exhaled. "I finally have Amy Rose in my grasp. Come, LRS – 2. Let's leave this pathetic excuse for a city," she commanded.

AFFIRMATIVE. NOW CHARGING INTERNAL ENERGY FOR TELEPORTATION.

Luna gripped him with her hand and held onto him tightly, wanting to make sure that they got away successfully. She peered down at an unconscious Amy Rose, who was bleeding from the back of her head. Luna looked and chuckled. "What a sad sight that is. What a shame. She had so much to live for, too," she said jokingly. Just then, she slowly took out the controller and flipped the switch to "camouflage." The interface on Amy's back disappeared. "There we go," she laughed. Just as they were about to leave, LRS – 2 began to act funny. He was supposed to teleport them out of the vicinity, but he wasn't doing so. "Hey! What's the big idea?"

INTERNAL SYSTEM ERROR. SYSTEM CHECK. ZZZZXXKKYYZZZZ! ZAP-ZAP! INTERNAL MEMORY DUMPED. SYSTEM MALFUNCTION.

"What do you mean by that? Respond!" she commanded.

UNABLE TO PROVIDE ANSWER.

"I suggest that you find an answer right now before I tear you apart!"

SYSTEM MALFUNCTION. SYSTEM SHUTDOWN. WHIRRRRRRRRRRRR…

The robot closed its capsule, shut off completely, and fell to the ground. It didn't even move. It lay there, broken. Its shell was cracked like an egg. Luna was shocked and mystified by this. How in the world did he just shut down like that? She was looking down at him, disappointed and let down. She thought that a little bug couldn't affect him. She remembered back then when they were exploring a planet in the outer rims of a galaxy much like this planets.' The planet's name was Ensora. The planet had very high electrical levels and a high level of gravity that LRS – 2 couldn't handle. During their time on the planet, LRS – 2 acquired a small bug. It screwed with his programming, and almost rendered him useless. But, thanks to his software and hardware capabilities, he was able to delete it. Supposedly. He was able to get rid of most of it, but a very small amount was encrypted in his hard drive. He seemed to be fine for a long while.

"It must be from this planet's ozone. All of the other planets that had an ozone layer didn't affect him at all, but I don't know why this ozone layer is different from all of the other ones. There must be something in the air that's weakening the ozone layer that's causing some kind of form of radiation. I did feel it as I approached Earth. It felt strange. If that's not it, it must be something else. I don't know what else it could be."

Just then, the top of his head opened and revealed the cube. It was the very same cube that had been trying to solve all along. The cube was just floating up and down on top of his lifeless, disembodied robot body. She reached down and picked it up. She stared at it until it began to glow. Just then, the floor disappeared. All of a sudden, she was quickly surrounded by that same cold black that surrounded her before. "Damn it! What's going on now?" she exclaimed. She looked at the black sky and saw a white dot. Maybe it was an angel coming to take her away from this terrible place. The white dot began to fall closer and closer to the ground, slowly increasing in size, expanding, growing, and filling the sky. It had to have been an angel. There couldn't have been this much light shining down on her normally. It must have been an angel. There couldn't be any other explanation besides that. Her eyes slowly widened as the white dot grew even larger until it soon encompassed the darkness Luna was standing on. "It is an angel."

"No, it's not," a dark voice said.

"What?" Luna gasped. "I'd recognize that voice anywhere. Yashima!" She looked up and noticed that Yashima was encompassed in a veil of white light, she had large angel wings, however, she did not have a halo. She had three large spikes protruding from her back. Something wasn't right about Yashima. When she touched the ground and fell down to Luna's level, the ground began to shake and move. It made Luna stumble and fall on her knees. She looked up and saw Yashima looking down at her, downtrodden and scared.

"You are truly pitiful, Luna. I have given you a chance to solve this cube and to show what your future holds."

Luna picked herself up quickly. "How would _you_ know what my future holds?" she shot.

"Solve the riddle. It holds the key to your life," she said, then she floated back into the air, and the darkness began to fade. In short time, she was back in the streets of Station Square, surrounded by the sounds of people's footsteps, voices, and car engines revving past her as she had nothing but her sanity. She stared deep into the glowing cube, wanting desperately to solve it just to see what Yashima meant by what she said. "Maybe if I solve this stupid thing, she'll leave me alone."

She still had a good amount of LRS – 2's teleportation energy within her. She used it to teleport to the top of a large building, where she could be alone until the time was right. It was a good thing that no one saw her transport; otherwise she would have been in even more trouble. When she had the cube in hand, she looked at the sky again. She noticed that it was getting darker, but it wasn't Yashima this time. She could tell that this was the sun going down, and nighttime was going to soon come. This was a good thing, because if this happened, her powers would get a drastic increase. But, first it had to be completely dark. It was already sunset. All she had to do was wait for a couple more hours. She really hoped that it didn't take her forever to solve this thing; so long, that she wouldn't be able to find her next victim. She thought about her next victim and who they were going to be located. Without LRS – 2 guiding her, she was better off searching for her victims in the pitch black night. She was blind without him leading the way, showing her where her precious victims were. "Maybe Yashima destroyed him," she said. She could feel her brain leaving her. She hissed in pain and grabbed herself. "God. What is going on here? What in the world does this cube have to do with me anyway?" she whined. "It just doesn't make any sense!" She held the cube in her tight sweaty palms. The cube was making her remember the riddle.

"One color, two items,  
Stands out from all,  
Shows victory,  
Not to the enemy."

"What does that even mean? Maybe it was an oxymoron. The "one color, two items" line had to have meant something about two different life forms combined into one. The "stands out" stanza has to mean its spiritual power or physical power that is unmatched by anything that could possibly be perceived as being invincible. The "enemy" line means…" she halted. She knew exactly what that line meant. It meant that she was going to be defeated and her mission wouldn't be finished. "No. That's impossible! I can't lose!" she yelled. She tried to deny what would happen in her future. Just then, the cube began to glow and shimmer. She looked deep into the cube and saw an image of her fighting a mysterious figure, and she had her new army with her. "I have my army, and everything is falling into my favor. You can never predict the future," she said, confident of her victory. It really did seem that she was winning. Just then, she noticed that something was wrong. The cube showed Luna on a strange black planet, screaming at the heavens, blaming her God for letting her die. Finally, a gigantic explosion blinded the hero, but he stood, victorious with his friends. Luna was shocked and very critical of the future message. "No! How can that even be?"

Just then, a hologram of Yashima began to float down. The sky didn't change to black this time. The hologram spoke and said, "Good job, Luna. You've solved one part of the riddle. You still have to solve the rest of the riddle to see your future in its glory…unless you want to run the risk of denying your future, you might want to finish the riddle," she said. She disappeared.

"How am I supposed to solve this riddle?"

The sun finally descended beneath the ocean and Luna began to glow bright white. "Well, I'd better try my best to find my next victim…Shadow the Hedgehog."

_To be continued…_

* * *

Yeah, that damn writer's block screwed me over. Chapter 12 is coming soon.


	12. Confronting Shadow

Luna becomes aware that she has a problem that needs to be fixed.

And, she finally meets Shadow. What happens?

* * *

Luna held the cube in her hands as she glowed intensely. Her body shimmered with large amounts of bright white light that glowed brighter than the moon itself. She sat on the edge of the building with the cube in hand, trying to find out what the final part of the riddle meant. If she let this go on any longer, she wouldn't have any more brain cells left, so she dispersed of the cube and prepared to find her next target, Shadow the Hedgehog. "Now that that burden is off of my chest, I think that it's time to do some excavation for the next victim on my list: Shadow the Hedgehog. I hope that I can find him without the assistance of LRS – 2 any longer," she said, bearing a quick glance at a defunct LRS – 2. People were staring at him, kicking his round metal body around like a crushed beer can. Luna couldn't help but chuckle in degradation at her fallen comrade. "How sad," she said, bowing her head and shaking it. "I thought that he was strong enough to beat an unknown bug. I guess that I was wrong. He is nothing but trash, and he means nothing to me now. All I need is his energy for teleportation, and that's what I have. Hmph."

As she stood on the roof of the apartment building, illuminating in the light of the full moon, she wondered about where Shadow would be. "Hmm, I wonder where Shadow would be located. Because of his personality, his past, and his overall life in general, I might imagine that he could be by some railroad tracks in a construction zone near here. I remember what LRS – 2 told me when we were still in space. He told me the last locations of my victims and where they are located now," she said. "I remember him telling me that Shadow's last location was in the construction area outside of this city. Let us go to see Shadow, shall we?" she said to herself. She charged the energy within her and teleported away, leaving the glowing cube behind. After Luna disappeared, the glowing cube disappeared. The hologram image of Yashima appeared afterwards.

"Luna, you heard my monitory warnings about the cube. I am giving you a chance to solve the riddle and save yourself from losing your life. I shall let you decide."

Luna could feel the wind flowing through her crimson red hair as she quickly vamped across the land, passing through mountains and land formations, in search for the one victim that she felt was of severe vital importance to make her mission a success. She could smell the scent of fresh victory. It smelled like frosting on a cake. She could taste the sweet taste of vindication. It tasted like candy. She could see conquest on the other side of her mind. It was such a beautiful thing to see. She believed that if she got Shadow, she would have enough minions to move on. She had already had a fairly descent amount of victims, very useful ones, nonetheless. "Let's see. Who do I have?" she said to herself. She began to count off on her fingers. "Hmm, I have Sonic, Knuckles, Princess Olmeca, and Amy," she counted. When the results came back to her, she was less than unimpressed. "Only four?! Damn it! I thought that I had more than that! I guess that I've been wasting so much time here, my mind has been playing tricks on me! I can't believe this! There is no way that I'm ready to proceed!" she screamed. She then thought about what she said when she was in space. _"I need at least six members for my new army, because that is how many members my old army had. If I'm lucky, I should be to find one more member for my new amenable army. Ha!" _She began to wonder if six wasn't enough. "Maybe I should go for seven. If I could, I should be able to find one more army member because I remember LRS – 2 telling me that one other person should be at that beach tomorrow afternoon. If I can, that will most definitely be enough," she chuckled evilly.

"Am I here?" she wondered. "I've been floating here for a while. Is this where I can find Shadow the Hedgehog?" She stood on the air, floating above the pavement as she stared down at a rusty, broken down construction area. There were railroad tracks that seemed to go on forever that were connected to large metal pillars that looked like they were going to collapse any minute. The entire area was devoid of any form of evident life whatsoever. The only thing that looked like it had life was a black spot on the ground with small traces of red. While it was still nighttime, her vision increased majorly, too. She noticed a black hedgehog that looked like Sonic, but with red markings on his spikes, and they were pointing upwards. "Oh, yes. That's most definitely Shadow," she said, licking her fingers in anticipation. She vanished from the sky, and she gently landed on the ground, still beaming all over with light. She didn't want to go near Shadow with his back turned, so she called out to him hoping to get his attention.

"Shadow the Hedgehog," she called, "my name is Luna the Badger. I have come from another planet from a great distance to see you. I have come to take you and shelter you in my arms. In time, you will be mine to command, for I am your new master."

He heard her speak, and he silently chuckled. He didn't turn to respond to her. He lifted his head up and smiled.

Luna spoke again. "My name is..."

"Yes, I heard you," Shadow interrupted. He slowly began to turn around. "I heard you the first time. Your name is Luna the Badger. What makes you think that you can boss me around and tell me what to do? Just because you're an alien that means you can order me and control me like a puppet? You obviously must not know who or what I am. I'm Shadow the Hedgehog, the Ultimate Life Form. I take orders from no one!"

"I'm sure you don't."

"That's right."

"Well, I'm sure that you won't mind being ordered around by an "alien." It's really going to be quite entertaining watching the "Ultimate Life Form" bowing before me. It will bring me great pleasure."

"Hmph! Sure it will," he chuckled. "Me, bow before you? That's about as humorous as watching Dr. Robotnik succeed with one of his evil plots."

Luna raised her eyebrow. "Dr. Robotnik? Who's that?"

"Dr. Robotnik is this evil scientific madman who builds all types of evil robots and machines to try to take over the world, but always fails miserably because Sonic and his miserable friends always manage to defeat him with no problem. Who knows what he's planning now," he explained.

Luna knew that she had a smart one and a clever one. Her final prize was all the sweeter. "So that's Dr. Robotnik, huh? Hmmhmmhmmhmm...AHAHAHAHAHA! He sounds like a total weakling if he can't beat a small, blue hedgehog! It's just so funny that a mechanical genius like Dr. Robotnik can't take down a small, blue hedgehog that's not even half his size! It's amazing!" she laughed loudly, causing an echo in the quiet night sky. Birds flew out of the trees nearby, squawking and chirping loudly, also creating commotion that turned the silence of the night into the shrieks and noises of wild birds. "So, now that that's out of the way, how's about we just end all of this pointless conversation between one another, and just let bygones be bygones?"

Shadow liked to hear that. That way, he didn't have to get his hands dirty. "I like that. How about you leave, and take your false promises with you?"

"Or better yet – how about you come with me and obey me, and you'll have all of the riches in the world. Many treasures await you if you join me. Anything that you want will be yours if your black heart wishes it. You will live under a powerful roof; a roof that is inundated with powers and things that your mind cannot even begin to comprehend. Powers that even the Gods can stand up and envy. There would be nothing in the universe that could touch us. All of our enemies would fall before our feet and beg for mercy. That is all that will exist for you: Never ending limitless power, and anything that your heart could possibly desire. Well, what do you say, Shadow? Do we have a deal?"

Shadow felt insulted. "Do you really think that I'm that stupid? To bow before someone, _anyone_, is absolute madness! I will not be fooled with your _lies!_"

She frowned and looked at him in disappointment. "You certainly are stubborn."

"I know."

* * *

It seems that Luna actually has a challenge addressed towards her. Which path will she take? Chapter 13 is coming soon.


	13. Duel

Luna and Shadow trade insults and threats back and forth for a while.

What does she want from him?

* * *

Shadow stood locked in the one straightforward position, facing the thing that was trying desperately to swallow him up. He knew that he wasn't going to be defeated by someone who was from another planet. "Alien or not, it doesn't matter. Not even a disgusting alien creature like you can stop me. I follow my own beliefs. I don't listen to anyone but myself," he said, addressing himself.

All Luna could do was point and laugh at him for saying such a stupid thing. "What makes you think that you can beat me? It isn't as if you have any less of a chance trying to hurt me. If you think that you're more powerful than me, you're sadly mistaken," she said. She began to make provocative movements with her body, referring to her glowing. "Look at me, Shadow," she said, rubbing her body. "Do you see what you're up against? You are up against someone who is most reliable during the night. Look at my body. Look at how it beams in the night. Do you know what that means, my little hedgehog?"

"No," he chuckled.

"It means that my powers are overly inundated. They are raised to levels that you couldn't even dream to imagine. My hearing increases; my sight and senses all increase; my speed, health, and power increases; all of my naturally God-gifted talents is raised to a certain degree," she said. She stopped her little showgirl routine and got back to being serious. "That means that you are nothing but a bug compared to me, Shadow. I suggest that you give up before things get nasty."

Shadow didn't have to think about what this girl wanted to do. "You know what? I don't care about your little monarchy that you think you're going to have, but I do know this. It's not going to work. I'll make sure of it," he said. He paused for a second. "If you have ever had any torture or pain in the past, I suggest that you put it all behind you, because you're not helping yourself by holding onto the past and feeding off it. Must you be so pitiful?"

Luna stared at him with ambiguity. "What do you mean by that? Are you trying to say that I'm anemic; faint-hearted; weak?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying."

"How dare you."

"Really?"

"I've had my intelligence tested and insulted on this planet one too many times," she said, aggravated. At this point, she wanted to _really _destroy something. She was fully perturbed and she was at the brink of breaking down, until she realized that she could take this place – this void, empty place – and make it their battlefield. She giggled at the idea of a one-on-one match. "I have an idea. How about we settle this like civilized people? A one-on-one match between you and me to determine who will come out on top," Luna suggested, rubbing her chin.

"What are you suggesting? Are you suggesting a duel?" Shadow said, interested.

"Exactly. A duel. Are you up for it?"

Shadow was optimistic to test his strength a new opponent from a distant planet. Despite the fact she looked pretty fearsome, that didn't even stop his confidence from winning this fight. He smiled and said, "Of course."

Luna smiled as well, but this conjured smile was filled with evil and hate. "Oh, good! That's great," she said, gleefully. Then, she lowered her head and deepened her voice, "Oh, the fun we'll have together."

Just then, there was immediate silence over the area. The wind suddenly ceased. All of the animals and creatures halted to a stop. Even the smallest insects stopped crawling and ran back into the holes of the forest trees. The giant moon pressed against the sky, providing them with the most suitable light that they needed to start their battle. It's as if time had suddenly stopped just for them. It was like everything had completely stood still, just long enough for them to fight. It was so quiet that they could hear each other's individual breaths. Was this really happening? Did everything fall into place like this? Did the universe all of a sudden stop moving for a split second just for their entertainment? Shadow creased his hands, confident of his victory in this duel. Luna did the same, emulating the same emotion: victory. She needed to catch him off guard in order to gain the advantage, because she could tell that this wasn't going to be an easy fight. "One more thing before we proceed."

"What is it? Make it quick," he pushed.

"I suggest that you make your amends and say your goodbyes right now, because once I get done with you, you won't get another chance."

"Of course not," he said, scornfully.

She chuckled, as if to indicate she didn't care. "That's funny. You make me laugh. HA!" With that, she immediately and quickly went on the offensive. She dashed towards him at her fastest speed, eyes locked on her target, ready to deliver the first strike. She was closing in fast, while Shadow stood unmoving. _Yes, I have him now! _she shouted in her head. She jerked quickly to the left, disappearing away from Shadow. Shadow still stood, completely silent, with the same old stare that he had; angry and depressed. She reappeared behind him and prepared to attack him with her leg. She quickly attacked, but he reacted by reaching his hand out and blocking the attack with his arm. Luna was impressed with how fast he reacted to that. She jumped over his head, executing several acrobatic flips, and landing with complete accuracy. She laughed, still glowing bright white. "I must say, Shadow, you thoroughly impress me. When I'm powered up like this, most people usually aren't able to see my attacks. You are the very first, and because of that, I salute you Shadow," she said.

"Heh. Yeah, right," he chuckled. "Spare me this melodramatic nonsense."

"Really. You don't believe me, do you? Let me tell you a little tale about a planet by the name of 'Talia,' or the Mutant Planet. Since it is always dark in space, I am always energized in the glowing form you see standing before you. This planet was supposed to be destroyed, but it wasn't. A group of crazed, insane mutated freaks called 'Deviants' inhabit that planet. That's their home and they wouldn't dare let anything happen to it. However, when I came along, I decided to challenge the master Deviant of the planet. He was large, ugly, and very fast for someone so large. In fact, I do believe that he was faster than you were. I thought that I was going to be expecting a fairly challenging fight, but no. I was able to defeat him in less than one minute – I counted. Then I destroyed the planet by planting a bomb within the planet's core. The Deviants weren't able to save themselves, so they cried in shame as they died. It was all completely effortless," she said.

Shadow stood silent. He put his head down and shook. "That's a funny tale. In fact, I strongly disagree that it's even true," he said. "In fact, that story makes me want to fall asleep. It's just so irksome and boring, it's just not even worth my time," he laughed. "Neither are you."

"You know, Shadow, I have something to say to you. Once in a blue moon, do you find the one thing that bestows upon you infinite happiness; and guess what? That one thing is standing in front of me," she smirked. "I'm not worth your time? Now that just hurts, Shadow. Don't worry. Once I have you, all will be well."

With that, the duel began.

Luna made the first move again. She ran towards him again, claws outstretched, hand above her head, ready to strike a second time. Shadow prepared to counter. When she was but a mere inch away from his face, she took a strong right swing at him, but missed. This gave him a chance to retaliate. He performed a full 360-degree flip kick, almost hitting Luna hard in the chin. She jumped back, landed squarely on her feet, and dashed forward again. This time, Shadow did the same. They both were charging towards each other, with perspiration flying from their foreheads and their hands clammy and wet. Both of them collided with incredible force. They were taking hits back and forth like ballistic madmen. They exchanged and rehashed each other's blows, punch after punch, kick after kick, and throw after throw. The night was set ablaze by the intensity of their duel. No longer was there a serene environment in the night. Now, there was nothing but total commotion and anger. Animals were being driven from their homes, and the wind began to pick back up. Both of them flew back, landing on their feet. Shadow shifted much of his energy to his body and prepared to attack with the Chaos Spear. Luna watched from a distance as he charged his attack.

_What's he doing? _Luna thought.

"Chaos…SPEAR!"

He launched a series of yellow energy beams at her. As Luna analyzed them, she realized that the streams of energy were much more powerful than she thought. She widened her eyes exponentially and the energy blasts completely disintegrated.

"Chaos...CONTROL!"

He immediately vanished and quickly reappeared in front of her, crouched down and prepared to strike. Luna had no idea that he was going to execute that kind of move. She stood with a shell-shocked expression on her face. _He's good. He caught me off guard like that. That does it. It's time to finish this and claim my prize! _She caught her attention back to the foot soon to smack her in the face. She just barely dodged the arced kick, as it swiped across the top of her head, removing some of her hair. She jumped back to her position by the still waters. Shadow jumped back to his position near the railroad tracks. Both of them were exceptionally winded.

Luna called out to him. "Alright, Shadow! I've had it with you! It's time to end this little façade right now! Are you ready?"

"Bring it on," Shadow taunted.

Luna built up all of the energy within her before she began to notice that twilight was approaching. It was definitely time to end this before it was too late. She was still glowing as bright as she was, and she was still as powerful. She needed to end this duel with Shadow right now. Shadow also prepared to charge his energy for Chaos Control. Shadow knew that this was going to work.

Somehow.

Luna leaped forward and ran at her fastest possible speed, which was about as fast as Sonic runs normally, charging Shadow prepared to strike a blow that will surely make him hers. Shadow took only a few seconds to prepare his energy for his attack. He shouted, "Chaos...CONTROL!" and let everything else go. Everything was resting on this final clash. Who was going to win the duel? Would it be Luna or Shadow? From the trees, yellow and red eyes were just watching the fight with anticipation. What were all of those eyes just staring at them and what did they want? All of these questions were irrelevant as they closed in on each other now. Luna was thinking about what the future holds if she successfully captured Shadow. All of the prizes were amazing, but universal domination sounded good enough for her. All she had to do was bring him down, and she could go home. Just then, a breaking point! They had collided! They both struck each other with a fearsome strike that couldn't be perceived by the naked eye.

_Wait! I still need to get that trigger device on him somehow from here. How to do that?_ She had it! Upon their collision, she quickly reacted by pulling one out, making a long stretch that seemed too far away, but she just barely chipped it onto the end of Shadow's spikes. Luna's hunt was complete. Her mission was almost complete. Both of them landed squarely on the ground, kneeling down as if to experience something as savory as victory. They both proceeded to get up. They turned and faced each other. They were ready to decide who won the duel and who didn't. Shadow spoke first.

"It seems like I won," he chuckled.

Since Luna's mission was almost done and she had the most important aspect of her army, she decided to let him have the crown. "You're right, Shadow. You have bested me. It has proven to me that I have much to learn about being a superior fighter like yourself. Therefore, I have failed to taste victory, and you have done so."

"Yeah. That's right."

"Yeah, that's right," she repeated. "It's game over."She laughed silently. _What he doesn't understand is that...the sweet, sweet taste of vindication, it all becomes a pool of ashes within his mouth and spikes on his tongue. It makes me laugh. _

_

* * *

_

This chapter was a bit late. Sorry. My writer's block _almost_ screwed me over again. Anyway, Chapter 14 is in progress.

**NOTE: This story will be going on an unknown hiatus. I don't know how it will go on, but as long as it takes to fix what's wrong. See you all later.**


	14. Computer Bugged

Luna soon realizes that something is very wrong with her army.

Also, something is very wrong in Knothole.

* * *

Shadow was highly content with the results of the duel. He picked himself up, wiping the dust off of his body. He slowly turned around, walked towards a giant pillar supporting the railroad, and leaned against it. He noticed that on it, a yellow sign that displayed a figure of a yellow stickman with a hard-hat on, and underneath it in all capital letters, it read DO NOT APPLY PRESSURE TO. Shadow simply looked at it with a disgruntled expression. He then ripped it off the metal pillar and threw it towards the forest. The yellow sign flew like a frisbee, slicing tree limbs with intense velocity. Birds flew from their nests, and deer and elk ran away to seek shelter elsewhere. Shadow shifted his eyes left and noticed that Luna was still there, standing with a dark look on her face, looking fierce. He responded to her, just so he could make her leave. "I won the duel, remember? You gave up and said that I claim the title of victor. Now, leave before I make you," he threatened.

Luna's eyes widened and she chuckled. "Oh! Persuasive, huh?" she said. "I like that about you. You are always one step ahead of everyone else. You have the skills to be a great leader, Shadow," she paused and changed her tone, "but, don't think that we are through just yet. I am thoroughly impressed with you. I do look forward to see you again; and believe me, we will see each other again soon."

"Whatever."

"Yes, we will see each other very soon," she repeated. She slowly turned and walked away, following the intense light from the sun's rays shaping the ground. As she walked away, she conjured another macabre smile, thinking about her coming army.

_Very, very soon._

As she was fantasizing about her new upcoming army, she suddenly felt a sense of emptiness inside. All of a sudden, she felt incomplete. It felt like everything that she worked for was for naught. It seemed like there was nowhere else to go from here. That couldn't be. There had to be something else that was making her feel like this. "What's wrong? What is going on? Why am I feeling like this?" she complained. "I shouldn't be. There has to be something that's contributing," she stomped. She stopped walking and took some time to gather her thoughts together. She ruled out all of the possible conclusions there could have been, ranging from stress to frustration to Yashima. It wasn't any of those three things. If those things weren't causing her problems, then what was? "Damn it! What is it?" she whined. Just then, she felt a cool wind blow off the coast of the ocean. Her crimson mohawk hair flowed in the wind, while the rays of the rising sun pressed against it, causing it to flash and glisten. "That's it! I've got it! It has to be something wrong with my army. One of the members of my army is Princess Sally Alicia Acorn. She is the brains of the operation. I could use another big brain like hers to help me lead my army forward and onward," she said giddily. "That's what I need to do, and then it will finally be over! Once I have her in my clutches, I can finally call to my side my brand new army! GAHAHAHAHAHA!" she maniacally laughed. She took out the controller and stared at it, as she felt that it represented everything that she has ever done. She flipped the switch to the left, which caused the interface trigger on Shadow to disappear.

Luna wondered where her next victim would be, since she didn't have her robotic companion to assist her; but she did have much of his teleportation energy. "I wonder where she could be. I could imagine that she could be in a large castle, pretty much set up like a monarch rule," she said. In a quick flash of light, she was back in space with LRS – 2.

_LRS – 2, where is Princess Sally Acorn located?_

_VICTIM #006: PRINCESS SALLY ALICIA ACORN. CURRENT LOCATION: KNOTHOLE CASTLE._

_Knothole Castle? Really? Thank you. That is all I will need. Let us head to Earth._

_WAIT. FOR A MORE SUCCESSFUL MISSION COMPLETION RATE, I HAVE LOCATED ANOTHER VICTIM. I WILL INFROM YOU OF THE CHARACTER INFORMATION IF YOU NEED IT._

_Very well. Tell me._

Luna popped back into reality. "That's right. Now I remember. She is located in Knothole. It is time to gather the next victim," she said.

_In Knothole Castle..._

On the sacred grounds of the once peaceful island of Knothole where the small animals run free and peace reigns, Princess Sally was sitting in front of a large computer monitor viewing a map of Knothole. This map was supposed to track the current location of any nearby enemy within the area. Any intruder in the vicinity would be shot down. She had been active on it for about two hours, completely dry and out of luck. There hadn't been a single enemy that attempted to attack them all day. She was about to turn in until her father, Maximillian Acorn, walked in on her work.

"How are you doing, Sally? Did you detect any suspicious activity?" he asked.

"Sorry, father. Nothing yet to report. There haven't been any hints of foreign activity nearby."

He looked concerned. "Really? I would think that this would be able to detect evil presences approaching from a long ways away. I know that this thing is brand new, but it should work like a charm," he sighed. "In fact, I think that I feel some immensely evil force coming this way. I can feel it in my bones."

"Father, you're just imagining things." she said with a smile. "Even if there was an enemy that did manage to make it here, that doesn't mean they would stand a chance because of the enhanced security. And, let's not forget about our skilled fighters. We have nothing to worry about."

"Maybe you're right, Sally. Maybe it is all in my head. After all, we still have the finest security in order to take down whatever comes through these doors."

"Come on, father. Let's go outside and watch the sunrise."

"Yes, daughter."

She gently took her father's hand and walked through the doors, making their way outside to watch the sunrise as they planned. They decided to leave the computer on, just in case it picked up an enemy approaching the castle. Once they made it outside, they both sat on the edge of a giant boulder and stared at the sky, watching the sun rise over the mountains. It was a soul-reviving experience for the both of them. They never knew the real peaceful tranquility of Knothole until today. Everything was quiet, people were conversating peacefully among themselves, and the animals were frolicking happily. It was so peaceful, that a chipmunk popped up behind the boulder and crawled into Sally's hands. Everything was perfect. It was even more complete once the sunrise was over. God had blessed them.

Just then, the chipmunk looked up, turned its head left and right, and quickly ran off into a hole in the tree. Sally turned and noticed that all of the animals began to run around in fear and hide behind trees and inside tree trunks, burrowing underground, and taking flight. What was going on? Even some of the citizens starting quivering. They knew something was just not right here.

"What's going on?" Sally asked.

"I don't know, my daughter."

"Why is everybody freaking out like this? Wait! The computer! I'll be right back!"

She slid off of the rock, and ran as fast as she could to the computer. She hoped that she wasn't too late. She broke past the people squirming in the hallway and the guards blocking her path. She made it to the computer room in record time and noticed that it was in perfect condition. Something was wrong here. "Usually this place would be in shambles, but it's not. Why?" she questioned. She rushed to the computer and stared at it. There was a red blinking dot in the center of the map. "Let me see…" she pondered. She tried tracking the enemy's trajectory path, but it was almost completely invisible. When she realized that she couldn't track the enemy using the current setting, she switched to night vision. That didn't seem to work either. The next thing she tried was the infrared setting. It seemed to work perfectly. She viewed the enemy's path and found a truly startling discovery. She began to sweat like a dog because of what she just found out. "It seems that the enemy is located in…the computer room," she shuddered. She paused and wiped her face of the pool of sweat. "That's where I am."

_Hello, Sally._

Sally jumped instantly and turned around. She was shaking like a leaf blowing in the wind. "Wh-wh-who said that?" she shook. She could barely get the words out her mouth. Was she talking to a ghost? A figment of her imagination? What was she seeing here? She must have been suffering from paranoia because this voice was coming from nowhere. There was a ghost in her presence! What was she going to do? Submit? She can't submit to someone who is dead. Once again, she tried to get the voice to speak again, and reveal itself. "I-I asked a question! I expect an answer! Who said that?"

_Very well. It is time. _

The figure finally decided to show itself. "Well, you got what you asked for, didn't you?"

Sally was even more terrified now that she got a better glimpse of what she was so frightened of. "Who are you and how did you get past the security system?"

"I have my ways. If you want to know who I am…"

The enemy slowly walked towards a frozen Sally. She couldn't even move anywhere. She felt if she were to move in any way, she would be dead. If only Sonic was there to help her. She hoped that he didn't suffer the same fate that she's befalling right now. She couldn't quit and give up, though. She had to at least try to fight back, at least long enough for her father to reach her. She nervously made a fist and tried to swing at the enemy, but she missed. This gave the enemy a chance to retaliate. The enemy performed a rapid hook kick to Sally's face, which pushed her back to the computer, crippling her slightly. She tried to get up, but the impact was too strong. She lied with her head down while she nearly went into cardiac arrest at the same time. The enemy took out a little red trigger-type button and placed it on Sally's limp shoulder. The enemy laughed in content glory.

"H-hey," she said, weakly. "Who are you anyway?"

The enemy turned and walked away. Before leaving, the enemy stopped and spoke again.

"My name is Luna the Badger, your new master."

* * *

Sorry for this chapter coming so late, but I just had to take care of a few other things. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Chapter 15 is in progress.


	15. Child's Play

Luna captures Sally fairly easily, however, she still feels incomplete.

The extra victim is someone that she has a notorious issue with.

* * *

Sally could barely raise her head above her shoulders. She tried to stand erect, but every time she did, she stumbled and fell to the ground. It was terrible that this could happen, right under their noses, no less. Sally felt totally unprepared and vulnerable during this time of trepidation. She could slowly feel her strength ebb away as Luna watched her with strong hostility.

Luna turned and faced her. She was standing above her like a towering behemoth ready to devour its prey. Sally felt like a fly being crushed in-between the hands of a dreadful monster. She tried to stand again. This time it seemed as if she was going to stand up and show her what for. She took all of the energy she had and transferred it to her fist. It was all going to happen right here, right now. This stranger was going to go down first. Sally let loose a powerful uppercut punch, but was immediately countered with a strong roundhouse kick to the face. In an instant, she was pushed back against the control panel, being choked by defiled hands of evil. It hurt so much. She was sinking under faster the tighter Luna's grip became.

Luna's eyes were piercing Sally's very being. "Listen very well, Princess Sally. In only a short time, you will belong to me. You will obey my every direct order and command. There will be one very special command that I need you to assist me with," she snickered. "It's going to be so much fun; just you and me. Oh! I almost forgot. There will be others."

Sally tried to speak, but those sweaty hands constricting her tight neck left her with a lack of speaking. Nothing was in order at all. She couldn't talk, she couldn't move; she could barely even breathe because of a giant hand asphyxiating her. She tried to force the large hand off her, but the harder she tried, the tighter the grip became. She was close to tears.

"Aww, are you crying?" she said, sympathetically. "Does the wittle baby need a tissue? Better dry those tears. It won't be long. I promise," she lied.

Then, coming from down the hall, there were rapid footsteps approaching and someone shouting, "Sally! Sally!"

Luna turned her head and growled. _That must be the voice of Sally's father. I knew that bastard told me that I was going to have some trouble down the line, but he never told me about an encounter with her father. I wonder what else he kept from me. Never mind. I wonder what took the old man so long to realize that his precious daughter was in peril._

Upon releasing her grip, Sally was finally able to speak once again. She was finally able to breathe again. She slowed down, caught her breath, and shouted, "Father! Help!"

"Well, it's time to go. Goodbye, Sally," she said, then teleported away. The entire place was in shambles. There were wires and attachments everywhere. Electricity was flying through the room. Temperatures began to rise exponentially. The computer was wrecked and malfunctioning. It looked like the entire room was going to explode just by setting off a hairpin trigger. Max dashed into the time bomb of a room and grabbed his daughter, gently holding her with both hands.

"Sally! There you are! I thought I almost lost you."

"Yeah, same here," she laughed.

"Did you find out what the disturbance was?"

Just saying that brought her back to that dreadful time. It was awful. It only happened a few minutes ago, but those few minutes seemed to drag on forever. Every time she thought about it, she felt haunted because it happened so sudden and without warning. "Y-yes, I did."

"Were you able to take care of it?"

Sally just wanted to crawl away and hide in fear. She tilted her head down, and a tear fell from her face, smacking the cracked floor. "Well...I kind of...I mean, I can't...I just..." She could barely say that she couldn't expel her fear. She then pushed herself against her father's chest and cried. It felt like a fluffy pillow. She wished she could live there. "Father, I tried."

"It's okay, Sally," he said, condescending his own fear at this point just to comfort his daughter. "This place looks like it's about to blow. Let's get out of here!"

_Later, somewhere above the city of Station Square..._

Standing at the top of the tallest building, Luna held her head down and sighed. "I have all that I need, but I still feel incomplete in some way. Some small way. Maybe that extra victim that LRS – 2 told me about should be at the beach today. With the victim count now at six, the number I require, I think that extra victim was someone by the name of Cream the Rabbit. That one small target could very well be the extra push I need to further increase the firepower of my army. It's very vague, but I do remember what he told me. Cream should be arriving at the beach at 3:00 p.m. when the sun is at its highest in the sky," she said.

As she looked at the blue sky, savoring the moment between the point of completion and failure, she focused her attention on the sun's position in the sky. She waited patiently for the sun to land at the top of the world. It seemed that this would take forever, but little did she know that it wouldn't take long at all because it was already exactly 3:00 according to the clock tower behind her. She was so excited; it felt like everything was going to finally pay off. "Hmmhmmhmmhmm. Well, look at the time. I think that it's time to pay Cream the Rabbit a visit. It's back to the beach for me," she said evilly. She took out the controller that activated the switches and held it like a rare jewel. "It's almost time."

_On Emerald Coast…_

Many people lied on the beach, enjoying the sun and the beautiful seventy-degree weather. The clear, blue waters shone with great intensity as the sun's rays blasted on it. The hot sand felt so good as people squeezed it between their toes and kicked it in the faces of their friends. It was the perfect day to relax on the beach. However, people were not able to comprehend the evil that was approaching. Above the beaches' waters, Luna floated and viewed the immense group of people. Her figure eclipsed the sun. "Hmm, I don't see Cream yet. Where could she be?" she asked herself. She then began to act like a telescope to seek out her victim. Then, she noticed a small person kneeled down on the sand. It was barely discernable who she was looking at, but she could tell at least that they were building a sand castle. She floated down closer to Earth and got a better view of who she was looking at. It was a small cream-colored rabbit with exceptionally large ears and orange markings on the forehead and large ears; the person was also wearing a bathing suit. In addition, she did notice an even smaller blue creature wearing a red bowtie, and a dot on its head. It was jumping up and down in some weird way that made it seem that this small blue creature belonged to this person. Luna smiled. "Ha. It's Cream the Rabbit. That wasn't too bad. Now, the easy part should be luring her in. She is a child so that means she must be pretty naïve," she laughed. "Oh, my! Thank you, LRS – 2, for all that you've done. If only you could hear me right now. Too bad!" she laughed maniacally.

Planted on the hot sand of the beach, Cream the Rabbit was happily and joyously building her sand castle called "Cream's Dream Castle," which she named all by herself. It was a deformed, small little castle with a flag on top of it. She didn't want it to be like this, though. She wanted it to look like a queen's castle. She wanted it to be the best sand castle she had ever built in a long time. In the past, she had made other sand castles, but they were just small little mounds of sand piled on top of one another in order to create a mountain of sand, but not this time. This time, she was going to create a truly amazing castle deserving of recognition, especially by her mother, Vanilla. Cheese tried his best to help to, but every time he did, he knocked off a small part of the castle. This made Cream's job a lot harder and longer, but it was worth it to see what the result was going to come out to be.

As Cream sat and continued to sculpt away at her castle, Luna softly landed on the sand. She peered over to her right and saw Cream building what appeared to be a sand castle. "A little girl…so this is the extra target that LRS – 2 told me about. She looks so helpless with no one here to defend her. Just how I like it," she chuckled. "There isn't much to do here. The whole thing is nothing but child's play. I say that it's time to end it all right here, right now."

Luna knew that if she acted as she did now, Cream would suspect something, so she needed to change her attitude for a split second. She conjured a horrible smile, perked her shoulders up, and stood up straight. She immediately went from an evil, sadistic person to a sweet, kind God-fearing individual. She felt mortified doing this, but she knew that she had to if she wanted to get Cream. Luna walked towards her with open arms and an open heart. It made her want to vomit, but she had to do it in order to adapt to Cream's character.

As Cream was building her sand castle, she noticed a large shadow casting over her castle. She was in a conundrum as to why this would happen. It wasn't getting darker – well, in a technical sense. Cream turned her head and saw a girl towering over her and her castle. Cream, being the person that she is, introduced herself to the girl. "Hello," she bowed. "My name is Cream the Rabbit, and this," she said, indicating Cheese, "is my Chao friend, Cheese. What's your name?"

"Who, me? My name is Luna," she said with this strange neutrality in her voice. One side of her wanted to take her and threaten her with false promises, and another part was willing to suffer. She tried to stick on the suffering side. "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise," Cream said.

"Chao-chao!" Cheese squeaked.

"He sure is cute, isn't he? Now, I noticed that you were building a sand castle. Am I right?"

"That's right! I'm making a sand castle, and this one is going to be the best one that I've ever built!"

"Well, that's a pretty big job, huh? Now, I think that you're going to need some help in that department, because there's no way that you can accomplish that on your own."

Cream laughed softly. "No, thanks. Besides, I already have all of the extra help that I need," she said, pointing to Cheese once again. "Also, how will I know if I don't try? I have to take a stab at it. I won't know unless I try. Thank you for wanting to lend a hand, though," she said.

It wasn't about to end like this. "Wait, Cream. How about a third extra hand? After all, three heads are better than one."

"You're right. I want to make this the biggest and best sand castle ever and we need all of the help we need. Come on, Cheese! Let's go make the best sand castle ever!"

_All too easy..._

Both Luna and Cream sat down together and began to slowly construct the sand castle as the day lazily ticked away. Luna couldn't believe that she was doing this right now. Why was she suffering through this right now? The only reason that she is staying right now is because her target is right in front of her, but her range was slipping away, and she couldn't wait until it got too far away to catch. It was hard enough changing into something that she wasn't, but now she has to deal with this. What a terrible consequence. She had to crawl her way out of this before she was consumed by her own subconscious. "Hey, Cream. This castle is coming along great."

"Yeah. It is."

Luna decided that it was time to end this before it was too late. "Hey, Cream, there's something that I want to give you," she said. She pulled the final red switch and showed it to Cream. "Do you see this?"

Cream poked at the mini switch. "Yeah, I do. What is it, Luna?"

This was the hard part. She hadn't planned this part out. She was just pulled into it like a paper clip being attracted to a magnet; she was the paper clip. What was something clever that she could call it? All of this pressure was seeping deep into her bones and it was too much to bear. "Well, I, uh...I, um...I just..." Then she broke off and stood up. "That does it. I can't take it anymore."

"What's the matter, Luna?"

"I don't think that you understand me very well, little girl," she said maliciously.

"What do you mean, Luna? You're my best friend."

Luna laughed. "Friend? What, are you kidding me? I don't have any friends. Not now, not ever."

"Everyone has to have a friend in their life. It makes life worthwhile!"

Maybe this little six-year-old girl had a point. But she wasn't on the same wavelength as Cream was, though. "You're right. You know, if you have at least one friend in your life, everything is going to be okay. In fact, I have already made a few very good friends. One of those said is Sonic the Hedgehog."

"You're friends with Sonic?"

"That's right."

"Oh, boy. I'll bet he must be happy to have a friend like you."

Luna had the girl in her clutches now. "You have no idea how happy he was. When I introduced myself to him, he beamed with joy. He was so happy to have made a brand new friend. In fact, he's one of my best friends now."

"It must be great to have all these great friends by your side."

"It sure is," she laughed. "Cream, I have to go now. I'll see you again soon," she said. As soon as she walked away, she nearly forgot something. "By the way, Cream, I want you to have this," she said, handing Cream the miniature trigger. "It's a gift from me, Luna the Badger. Enjoy."

Cream was highly confused about what to do with this small thing. It was just a small dot and nothing more. There wasn't anything more to this small thing. It was just a little trigger that didn't do anything. She decided to ask Luna what the thing did, if it did anything at all. "Luna!" she called. "What do I do with it?"

At this point, Luna just wanted to turn around and strangle Cream. She was getting so annoyed by these questions and that annoying squealing voice of hers that just seemed to drag on forever. She decided to respond one last time. This time, she decided to tell her something that she could actually believe. "Keep it. It's an earring. I hope you like it."

"I do."

Luna proceeded to walk away. She rolled her eyes. "Sure you do."

_Say hello to my brand...new...army._

* * *

This chapter is finally done. I'm almost done, and honestly, I am going to have a_ good time_ with these last few chapters. Chapter 16 coming soon.


	16. Brand New Army

Luna has finally done what she thought was impossible. She calls her army to her.

What will happen to everybody now?

* * *

Luna became inundated with high amounts of joy, happiness, and pride. Her euphoria soared through the roof. She had never felt like this before. Everything that she ever worked for was about to come into realization; and it was all within range. Just a click of a button, and she could finally proceed. She stood on top of City Hall stomping and laughing in delectation. "Yes! Yes! YES! I can't believe it! I never thought that I would ever get this far! I never thought that I could accomplish something of this magnitude!" she laughed wildly. "I've finally done it!" she said, hands stretched out as if she was addressing the people. "I've done what no one else has ever done before! Hahaha! Mwahahaha! GAHAHAHAHA! It's finally over. One last thing before I go, I think that it's time to give the people an announcement," she laughed. She regained her composure for a few seconds and commanded the people to listen to her for a little bit. "Attention people of Station Square! I have an announcement to make! I pray that you all are listening! Starting today, your precious savior, Sonic the Hedgehog, is now your enemy!"

All of the people immediately turned around and listened to what the girl was saying. Most of the people thought that she was talking nonsense. "What is she talking about? What would make Sonic go bad? He's the good guy. He's always going to the greatest hero out there," a middle-aged man said. "He would never do anything to hurt us."

"That's right," a teenage girl said. "What's she talking about?"

"That's right! Sonic the Hedgehog is now your greatest enemy! He wants you all dead, and when he finds you all, he will show no mercy and no remorse! I suggest that you go prepare yourselves immediately, because he is on his way! Many of you are thinking that I'm lying, but I'm not. I am a messenger from far away coming to inform you that will turn his back on you this very day! I suggest that you prepare yourselves! Prepare all of your military personnel! Tell them to prepare themselves for anything and everything! Thank you!" she concluded. She teleported away to another building to prepare for the gathering.

She leaned against the window of a building, towering over sixty stories. As she leaned heavy against the tall tower, she felt something scratch against her spine. She turned around and saw that the side of the building had a fissure in it. "A fissure in this building? That means that this building is fragile and prone to impact," she said. "This building has a large number of people. I'm sure this structure will be so easy to tackle. This will be our first target."

Luna couldn't wait to begin her new onslaught. She teleportedon top of the fragile building and pulled out the switch that controlled the little interface trigger devices. She laughed and celebrated. "All of the searching is finally over. All of the hoping and praying has come to a close. Nevermore will I live knowing that I have no one by my side to protect me. It is finally complete. It is time. Now is the time to resurrect and bring to life my brand…new…army."

She pushed the giant button that said "ACTIVATE" in bold letters across it. Her wish had come true. Everything that she could have possibly worked for was flourishing with great importance. She chuckled evilly as she looked at the sky.

On the Floating Island, Knuckles was still recovering from that severe blunt trauma to his head. He picked up an ice pack and held it to his head, wiping off the remaining pieces of dried-up blood from the ground. Knuckles was still confused as to how he could have been taken down so easily. "This is crazy. This day could possibly be the worst day to be guarding the Master Emerald. I've still got solutions to protect this thing. No matter what happens, I will always protect the Master Emerald at all costs," he vowed. However, he didn't know that he would be breaking his own vow in a matter of seconds. All of a sudden, he began to feel very strange. He began to sweat like crazy, and experience a massive headache. All of a sudden, he couldn't even control his body. It felt as if someone was controlling him from the inside. He tried his absolute best to keep himself from going bad, but the control was too strong. He had no control of his movements, his body, or his thoughts any longer. He was no longer himself. His eyes were glowing red, and his strength increased by a large margin. He was now under the command of Luna the Badger's syndicate. He leaped off the island, leaving the Master Emerald behind and exposed.

At Tails' Lab, Tails and Sonic were both trying to discover what was causing Sonic to act like that. Tails spent some time alone trying to find some kind of connection between his remote and the strange behavior that Sonic was showing. Nothing came to mind. The only thing that even came close was that girl he saw on the beach, but since Sonic told him to forget about her, that's what he did. He deleted that possible conclusion and thought of something else. "What else could it be?" he said. "It couldn't be Eggman." Just then, the gentle sound of footsteps could be heard. They were low, but they could still just barely be heard. Tails jumped from his seat and ran outside. Almost immediately, he was bashed across the face by Sonic. He was sent flying back, breaking through multiple devices and several suspended electrical outlets. Tails got back up on his feet and stepped forward. Before Tails could react, Sonic darted across the water towards Station Square. "Sonic, wait! Where are you going?!" he asked.

On an island out at sea, Princess Olmeca sat and thought about what she was going to do now that she had been insulted and she had to deal with the fact that she had no mother. She questioned herself and thought about what her next actions were going to be. "Hmm, what to do; should I come up with a way to revive my mother, or maybe I should just go back home and wait some more?" she said. Her head began to pound. "Oh, God, too much stress. Oh, well, who knows? Maybe I should head home and just wait for my mother to show up," she sighed. "The things that I go through…that girl hurt me today; but that's okay. She is nowhere to be found and I know this. She will never take control of me," she said. Just then, she began to act strange. All of a sudden, she was no longer in control of her thoughts. She raised her head up slowly with eyes the color of blood and a body flowing with dark energy. She stood up and began to slowly walk across the water, heading towards the building where Luna was standing on.

On the streets of Station Square, Amy still lay unconscious on the sidewalk with a large gash on the back of her head. Amy groaned and creaked her eyes open and slowly got up, trying to maintain her balance. "Ugh, what happened?" she groaned. "Am I still in Station Square? Oh, I am?" she said, confused. "What happened to me? All I remember seeing a scary girl, and that was it. I must have knocked unconscious somehow," she grumbled. "Ooh! If it was that girl that knocked me unconscious, she's going to pay for it, big time! She won't do it again, not if it's the last thing I do!" she chanted. Little did she know, she was in for a very big surprise. She couldn't control her body, and her mental state was in shambles. She didn't know why this was happening, and an explanation couldn't be given as to why. She could feel something break within her trying to possess her. She tried to fight back, but the pull was far too strong. In short time, she was under the control of Luna.

At the railroad tracks, Shadow was in a deep sleep. His head was drooped and his arms were crossed as he leaned against the pillar. He wasn't worried about anything in the world. He wasn't worried about anything that was going awry in the world. He was completely at peace…for now. Just then, all of a sudden, he felt something in his subconscious speaking to him, saying, _"Come, Shadow, to your new master." _Upon hearing these voices, he began to lose his mind because something was telling him to destroy everything under the will of a master. These voices were constantly speaking and chanting that same haunting tune. This weakened Shadow's overall control over himself. He gripped his cranium and fell down to the ground, barely holding on to whatever shred of sanity he had left in his mind. He tried his hardest, fighting back against the mind control that gripped him. He was able to resist it for a couple seconds, but he was soon engulfed in the darkness. The voices got louder and the mind-control became even stronger. This was too much for Shadow to bear. After all of the struggling, he was now put into submission. He ran towards Station Square.

At Knothole, it was recovery time. After the destruction of the computer room and with a chunk of the castle gone, Max contemplated about what to do and what to expect now that they were exposed to enemy attacks. Little did he know, he already had an enemy in the castle. Max and his wife, Queen Alicia Acorn, were discussing severe safety concerns. Alicia feared for her daughter's safety and well-being. Max felt the same way. He was constantly beating himself up because he was not there to save her. Alicia tried to get him to calm down by comforting him with gentle words. He took these words in deep. He said that he was going to make sure that everything was going to be okay, and as he promised, he was going to reassure that. He commanded the recovery team to go assess Sally's condition and to check the overall condition of the castle. After sending them in, there was another explosion within the castle and the faint sound of an engine. As if out of thin air, Sally flew out of the castle on her hoverbike and started towards the water. The Queen was on her knees, crying. The King was silent in disbelief as to what he just saw.

At the beach, Cream was nearing the completion of her excellent sand castle. Her and Cheese were making the finishing touches to it. All they had to do was make a few adjustments to the ceiling, add some more leftover flags to it, and they were finished. She really adored her castle about as much as she adored the new "earring" that Luna gave her. It really fit with her ears, being that they were so big; it shone in the sunlight so everybody could see it even though it was small. She loved her new earring. Cheese loved it too. He squealed in envy at the fact that Cream could get a neat looking earring, but he couldn't. He tried to put it on his head, but it was far too big and it weighed him down. Cream laughed at his many failed attempts. He was so cute. It made her even happier. She just wanted to jump in fulfilled joy and hug everybody in the whole world because she finally completed her castle; and it looked fantastic. She turned her head and saw Luna standing on top of a large building. She was about to call her and say that it was finished. Just then, she felt something within her snap off like a firecracker. She could feel her willpower slowly fading away and there wasn't anything she could do. Cheese shook her and rattled her back and forth; trying to discover what was going on. Just then, he got a view of the "earring" on her ear. It was glowing bright red. Cheese thought that maybe this was what was causing her to act like this. He tried to remove it; he tried shouting in her ear; he tried smacking her around a little. Nothing. All that happened was Cheese being left alone as Cream flew towards Luna.

After all of the preparations and troubles that had followed her for the longest had finally been vanquished. It was now the time to act. A breath of clear mountain air invoked Luna in a flurry of praise and redemption. As her slaves approached -- climbing, running, or flying up the building – they stood by her side, leaving a marker of what was to come. Luna lowered her head. "Welcome to the ultimate absolution," she said. "You have all gathered here today for one reason. That reason is to…destroy everything." She began to call out their names so she could verify her completion. "Knuckles, Sonic, Princess Olmeca, Amy, Shadow, Princess Sally, Cream," she called. "I can see that you all are present. Very nice. I am your new master. All of those who had a master in the past, they are now dead. I am your new master from this point forward, and you are to do whatever I command. You are my army. You are to follow my orders. Now, listen. My first command is for us to wipe out everything."

"Yes, Commander Luna," they all said in a monotonic voice.

* * *

This chapter was a lot of fun doing, particularly because I had to detail each person's individual events as they became a slave to Luna's evil scheme. That was a lot of fun doing, also.

Chapter 17 is in progress.


	17. Retribution

Luna and her army are destroying everything in their path. It seems like nobody can stop them.

Until someone completely unexpected joins in.

* * *

Luna stood on top of the fragile building and blurted out laughing. There was nothing more perfect that could possibly compare to this very moment. Everything was now within reach. Everything was clear and vibrant and it all was absolutely magnificent to experience the magic after floating carelessly in space for so long. Nothing could possibly break her at this point.

"After all of the waiting and the praying, the hoping and the shouting, through all of the suffering—three long, grueling, excruciating years—it's finally over. Everything that I have been asking for has been placed right here in front of me," she said. This time, she was speaking with a new intensity and fire in her eyes. "It's all in clear view. I was blinded by my own losses, but now, I can see more clearly than I have ever seen before; and now, it is time to unleash my wrath upon these people and show them the ultimate absolution and forgiveness of my God," she growled.

All of a sudden, the glowing blue cube appeared by her side. "Luna, I give you this final warning. Please cease your useless attempts at happiness. You have gone too far to turn back. If you wish to save yourself, I strongly suggest that you solve the rest of the riddle."

Luna pushed the multiple warnings aside. She already accomplished her mission. Why did she need to do anything else? Let alone listen to anyone. "Hey, Yashima! What makes you think that you can tell me what to do any longer? I already have my new army beside me, and there isn't a damn thing that you can do about it! All of these predictions of the future that you speak of are completely immature and useless! So, to a former army member, I suggest that you go crawl _back_ into that grave that you crawled_ out_ of and become expelled forever."

"Luna, you don't understand what you're dealing with. If you don't cease your pointless actions right now, you will have no more army, and you will lose your life."

"You know what, Yashima? You and your cube mean nothing to me anymore. I'm glad that they all are dead. They were useless to me anyways. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a planet to conquer," she said. She turned her back to Yashima. In addition, she lifted her hand and flipped Yashima off before she left with her new army, ready and waiting to strike at the heart of the city.

She sighed. "Luna…you have no idea what you're up against."

_At Tails' Lab…_

Tails was sitting on the ceiling of his lab, crying. He could barely open his eyes. The tears felt warm on his face as they streamed down his cheeks. He wiped the tears from his eyes and watched the sunset. Tails was so confused. Why would Sonic just leave him like that? Normally, he would either tell Tails where he was going, or ask Tails to join his side; but this was different. There was this look in his eyes that was very troubling. That look was true evil in its own right. Tails ran back to his lab to do some research on the situation. He busted through the door and ravaged through his closet of items that could be of any use. Nothing. There wasn't a single thing that could possibly help this situation. Maybe his best friend was never going to come back to his side. He just wanted to crawl up and deteriorate slowly because he'd lost his only inspiration in life. It was too much to bear. He felt remedial without him. Just then, he remembered something. It just seemed to rear its ugly head at the very last moment of his living. All of a sudden, he began to remember it all happening on the beach. An image of a beautiful girl, a switch, and a beach appeared. It all came and went so fast. Suddenly, he jumped up and protested, "I've got it!"

Tails jumped up and got himself ready. He told himself that he had to be brave and strong for Sonic, no matter what. Even if Sonic were an evil, sadistic demon, deep down somewhere he would've wanted Tails to be valiant and fearless, no matter what. Tails dug through his mountain of supplies and grabbed his arm cannon, a few bombs, and a few extra things along.

"Oh, almost forgot," he said. He ran back and picked up a bright shiny duffle bag. He opened the bag and fixed his sight upon the seven Chaos Emeralds. Those seven jewels made him feel insignificant because of their immeasurable power. He stared at them with hopes that these would heal Sonic. "If these don't work, I don't know what will."

_At Station Square..._

The city was in shambles. Debris and broken glass was scattered everywhere. Overturned cars were littered all over. Blood marked the streets. Tall buildings and structures had been either destroyed or set ablaze. Luna stood back and watched her army destroy everything. Sonic was the one causing the most trouble. The military had a hard time trying to contain him. He was too fast for them, and too smart for them to handle. The commanding general of the city's military, General Shay, was thinking about their actions at this point, particularly his own.

"Why did I even consider think about doing this? This is madness. I don't understand why Sonic would go bad like this. It's crazy. I understand that we have to defend our country from evil, but I never thought I'd see the day where we would have to fight Sonic the Hedgehog. It just breaks my heart."

"General Shay, are we ready to fire?" one soldier asked. His voice came through on an old, busted walkie-talkie. It still worked, but just barely. The voices sounded muffled coming through, and horrible static broke their communication a lot during battle.

"Say that again, Private Washington!"

"Are we ready to fire?"

"Wait, Private! Wait a little longer for him to shift positions, and then we fire."

"Yes, sir!"

The possessed Sonic was still ravaging Station Square, terrorizing the people that were trying to get away. Most of the citizens were dead already. The ones that survived were taken to a maximum-security shelter by the military. Once Sonic was all finished, he stood facing the military with his evil eyes that had no love within them. This was now the army's chance to strike.

General Shay yelled into the walkie-talkie. "All right! We've got him right where we want him! FIRE!"

"Yes, sir!"

Cannons, rockets, tanks, and machine guns set it off. They unleashed a flurry of gunfire. The sound waves reverberated off the broken pillars of the city and smashed against the helmets of the troops. Some of the sound waves broke through their helmets and beamed against their ears. An entire ocean of rockets flew towards Sonic, threatening to turn Sonic into nothing more than ash. General Shay squeezed his walkie-talkie harder. "We've got him cornered now, men!" he yelled. He wiped the sweat from his face, praying that this nightmare would soon be over. He gripped his walkie-talkie even harder.

"We'll miss you, Sonic," he said to himself. He was fighting back tears the whole time as the missiles locked onto Sonic, threatening to destroy his very being.

It looked like the missiles were about to hit. It was all over. Sonic just stood there staring at the ground. He knew that the missiles were coming for him, but he didn't care. Once the missiles were in contact range of Sonic, all of a sudden Knuckles jumped in front of Sonic and, with all of his might, punched the missiles away from him. His punch reversed the missiles' course. They were headed straight for the military. General Shay was terrified. He wasn't ready to die yet. Not like this.

"Retreat! Retreat!" he yelled.

All of the soldiers pulled themselves away from the battlefield as fast as they could before the missiles hit. Many of the soldiers quickly hopped from their armed tanks and jolted to safety somewhere away from everything. The explosive power of the missiles was incredible. Tanks and weaponry were now reduced into nothingness. Entire arsenals of high-tech military defense mechanisms were now gone in a flash of light. A mini mushroom cloud had spawned after all of the missiles were finished. Fire spread across the streets like a contagion. Buckets of poisonous gases were left in the air. The once-blue sky was now completely blood red. The streets were paved with the stink and defecation of dead bodies. There wasn't a single area of the city that was safe anymore. All that could be done was praying.

Luna walked forward and clapped her hands slowly. "Congratulations. You have done well. This place has felt retribution. Nevermore will they live in peace, for they shall rest in pieces. Come forward, my army," she commanded. "You all have done a superior job of invoking havoc and terror within the hearts of others. Look at all of the people writhing. Well, all of the _remaining_ people," she chuckled. "This city is now ours. We will slowly conquer every inch of this miserable planet until there is no more remaining life. Let us now proceed into space and continue our quest for dominance," she said. "Follow."

As soon as Luna proceeded to teleport away with her army, she could feel someone hidden in the area. She felt them nearby. Amy suggested that she scan the area, but Luna said no and decided to wait for the person to show themselves. Luna waited and waited, but nobody showed up.

Located behind the twisted pieces of debris, the military was hiding, terrified of what was going to happen to them. Their weapons were gone, their firepower was gone, and their remaining courage flew farther out the window. Was there anybody who could stop this madness? Was there any guardian angel out there to protect them? More importantly, who was going to save the rest of the remaining citizens? All of the options had been wasted and left for dead. There was nothing that they could do. All they could do was wait for total annihilation.

Just then, a shadow appeared above their heads. Who was it? Was it someone coming to save them all? The shadow loomed down on them and expanded on the split concrete. Also, the sound of propellers could be heard from above. It was. Someone had finally heard their pleas for help because someone was coming to save them all. The silhouette was becoming even more distinct, and the propeller sounds were getting louder. Finally, the individual made touchdown on the concrete. Now they were going to be saved. The person stood in front of them, tall and willing. They couldn't believe what they saw with their very own eyes. The hero was…

"Tails?!"

* * *

  
I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Chapter 18 is in progress.


	18. Unlikely Hero

The military fails to stop Luna. It's all up to Tails now.

* * *

"Tails? What in God's name are you doing here?" General Shay asked.

He turned around and came down to the broken general's level. "Hello, General Shay. How are you?" he asked.

"What do you think!" he shot.

"Sorry," he chuckled. "What's been going on here? This place is a wreck."

General Shay placed his hand on his exposed head and rubbed the sweat from his face. He scrunched his face up, obviously fearing for Tails' safety. "Tails, you won't even believe this when I tell you," he said. The hardest part was trying to tell him whom they were fighting. It would destroy Tails for life; he had to do it, though. It placed a strong burden on his heart. "We were fighting all of your best friends, as well as some not-so-friendly friends that wouldn't normally do this. We tried to take them on, but they were far too strong for us. But, the thing that surprised us the most was that we were also fighting…" he swallowed down a mountain of saliva. This was the hard part. "W-we were fighting Sonic."

"I know."

He was shocked and flabbergasted at the same time. "What the…how did you know that we were fighting Sonic?"

"I thought about it for a while. It took me a while to piece everything together, but I found out what was going on. Did you see a girl out there commanding them and feeding them their orders?"

"I saw her. I don't know about General Shay here, but I sure did."

"Silence, Private Washington!" he snapped. "I saw her. She sure did look evil. Moreover, she did look like the one who was giving orders at the time. Who is she?"

"I don't know. She never told me her name, but I do know that she's the one who's controlling Sonic and everybody else. If I can stop her somehow, then I can save Sonic," he chanted.

General Shay wanted to stand up, shake his hand, and say thanks, but comparing Tails to what they were up against, he thought Tails was insane. "Tails, have you lost all of your common sense? Did you get hit in the head or something? Did you see what happened earlier? We got mutilated back there! We're the most highly trained group of military squadron out there, and they made short work of us. If we couldn't stop them…"

"Let alone, get near them," Private Washington added.

"...what makes you think that _you_ could? I'm sorry, Tails, but I just don't think that you have it in you."

Little did they know, he had all of the necessary components to stop them. It was time to prove them all wrong. He pulled out his bombs, his arm cannon, and his duffle bag. He held it to their faces and tried to convince them that this could take them down. They still held negative thoughts about his victory. He still had one last trick up his sleeve. He opened up his yellow duffle bag, thus revealing the seven Chaos Emeralds. They were impressed. Their enthusiasm soared. The general was especially fond of Tails' chance of victory now. He stood up and saluted Tails. "Good luck out there, Tails."

He saluted back. "Thank you, general." He flew out into the thicket of evil, fully prepared to fight.

Across the boundaries, Luna was still waiting. She was becoming increasingly impatient. Someone was out there. She knew that there was someone waiting out there, but they were obviously too scared to show themselves. She was willing to go out there herself and force them to come out. She was at her final straw with this person who refused to show themselves. Action had to be taken. "I know that someone is out there! Show yourselves, now! If you don't, prepare to suffer a slow and painful death!" she shouted. Still nothing. "Okay. Knuckles, Amy, clear the area."

"Yes, Commander Luna," they said.

Tails had definitely made a poor choice. He should have shown himself when he had the opportunity. Now, because of his choice, they were going to find him eventually by destroying the rest of Station Square. He was so frightened right now. He had to tell himself that he wasn't afraid and that he had to fight. He repeated this to himself many times before he bared the courage onto show himself. He finally mustered up his strength and made a hasty jump from behind the building to the battlefield. He was panting heavily, and his heart was beating rapidly and wouldn't stop. It felt like piles of quicksand were stuck in his mouth, making his throat dry and sticky. The air made it hard for him to breathe. The smell of the poisonous gases and toxins in the air haunted his nostrils, but he needed to persevere, no matter what.

Luna got a good look at whom she was going to fight. Then, all of a sudden, she was back on the beach.

_W-wh-who are you?_

_Someone who wants to take care of you__. Come on, Tails. I won't hurt you._

_That was too close! Thanks, Sonic._

_No problem, Tails._

_Damn it! I missed!_

Once she got a more poignant view of him, she laughed at the top of her lungs. "AHAHAHAHAHAHA! Are you serious?! This is who I have to fight? This is the big hero? This is the one who's going to save us all? Tails! He can't even save himself! What makes you think that you can defeat me, Tails? You don't have a prayer!"

"Shut up! I'm the hero here!" he said.

"Hero, huh? _You're_ the hero! Some hero! What, am I supposed to scared or something? Do you remember what happened back on the beach? Do you remember how scared you were? I can see that your little heart hasn't changed one bit!" she laughed. She almost fell over because she was laughing so hard. She expected the savior to be a bit stronger than this. She wiped the tear from her eye. "I must say, Tails, I will commend you for having the courage to have at least showed up. You're right on time to witness my brand new army destroy this pathetic planet. Are you ready?"

"No way! There's no way that you're going to get away with this, because I'm going to stop you."

She kneeled down to a subordinate's level just to joke with him. She raised her voice to that of a 2nd grade schoolgirl as she spoke. "Oh, dear. Please, Tails. Please don't hurt me. I'm just a poor innocent girl trying to make friends. Please don't hurt me. Please!" she cried. She stood back up and regained her composure. "You, defeat me? You just don't know when to quit, do you?"

Tails still stayed strong. He just kept saying to himself that he couldn't be broken and that nothing was going to stop him. Sonic would've wanted it that way. "Just wait. Anything can happen!" he shouted.

"Oh, we'll see."

* * *

  
It's a pretty straightforward chapter. I hope you enjoyed it. Chaper 19 is in progress.


	19. Sonic versus Tails

Tails has been forced to fight Sonic, but something holds him back.

What are the end results?

* * *

"You really want to lose your life, don't you?" she said. "You would come and see me just to make some empty threats about defeating me and my army? It's hilarious. I can see the uselessness of your actions from a mile away," she began to laugh. "Don't even consider for a quarter of a second that you, Miles "Tails" Prower, can even _think_ about defeating me."

"Shut up, you!" Tails shouted. He thought that maybe by arguing with her, he could maybe catch her off guard long enough to defeat her and rescue his friends from this imprisonment.

"Really? I'm the one who should keep their mouth shut? And why in the world I do that?"

"Because you don't know what will happen!" he said. He blurted it out as fast as he could. He hardly had any evidence to back up his claims about him being able to taste the fruits upon which victory was laid. He had to do something that could verify his chances of winning against this formidable foe.

"I don't know what will happen?" she laughed. "Uh, excuse me, but weren't you the one who was crying like a little baby when you first saw me on the beach? Remember? You didn't even try to defend yourself. You were wide open for me to snatch you up. After that little experience, I would think that you would be a bit smarter than to try to fight me. I don't think that you're ready."

"I _am_ ready! I'll show you!" he called.

Tails reached and pulled from between his arms a specialized arm cannon, capable of firing small beams of antimatter from its nostril, motion-sensor bombs which leave behind a deadly explosion, and a homing missile gun. He took his duffle bag and pushed it aside. He tossed it behind a smoking pile of debris. He knew what he had to do with this, but he just had to wait until the right time. The weapons that he had with were undoubtedly enough to finish the job, but he had to affiliate himself with them correctly. He attached the arm cannon to his hand and shifted to battle stance. He bent his knees, balled his hands, gritted his teeth, and kneeled down slightly as like a leopard waiting to pounce. He felt energy flourish throughout his entire being, and voices that told him never to give up were apparent as well.

"That's it?" Luna said. "That's your little strategy? Did you even think this through? Did you even consider the fact that your actions will forever benefit you in the near future? That means that if you lose, everybody will lose. Did you know that? Tsk, tsk. What a shame."

That statement caught Tails off guard. What did she mean by that? He needed to get an answer. "Hey! What did you mean by that? 'If I lose, everyone loses?' What do you mean?"

"Oh, dear. I've said far too much already. You'll discover in time, my precious little fox. I do believe that it's time for me to depart. In the meantime, I will leave someone here with you to play with," she said. "Sonic!"

"No, not Sonic!" he yelled.

"Yes, Commander Luna?" Sonic said. He spoke in a possessed tone. It sounded like the Sonic he knew was now completely dead and buried. He just sounded like a robot—cold and dead.

"Sonic, I want you to take care of this little pest. He is of no real threat to us. You should be able to destroy him with no problems whatsoever. A parasite cannot stand to exist any longer. You may kill him if you wish."

"Yes, Commander Luna."

"No," he cried. What was happening here? Was this a nightmare? This had to have been a really bad dream, because he didn't hear what he thought he heard. Sadly, every word that was said was as clear as the morning sun. "Sonic, wake up! Please wake up!"

Luna turned her head and snickered. "Do you hear him? He believes that he can actually do something about this. He really believes that the real Sonic is still there. What a fool. I hate to burst you pathetic little bubble, Tails, but your "guardian angel" is dead! Therefore, I suggest that you give up and turn yourself over to me! Otherwise, you will suffer the same fate as these people," she snarled. "It is time for us to leave now."

"No, wait! Come back!"

"You two have fun. Play nice," she joked as she disappeared with the rest of her army members.

Tails was left alone on the dirty, bloodstained streets with Sonic. Tails couldn't believe it. He just could not believe everything that was happening. Everything had suddenly worsened. He couldn't help the fact that this was the day of reckoning. It couldn't be. It was for him, because he had to fight Sonic. His idol. His protector. His friend. He just wanted to break down right there in front of Sonic, to show his emptiness. He wanted to see what Sonic's response would be. But, Sonic already had his response. A blank, devoid response to that devilish snake. He would still feel incomplete even if the angels from Heaven came and took him away. He couldn't leave without Sonic by his side. Nothing that he could possibly say could prevent Sonic from doing his job. His act of mutilation. Tails had to keep telling himself that he was brave and that he could do whatever he set his mind to. He heard it, but he just didn't feel it at this moment in time.

Sonic just stood there in battle position watching Tails grovel and cry. He was getting impatient. He was contemplating on whether or not to stay or leave, but since it was Luna's command to stay and fight, that's what he was going to do. "Come on, Tails. Are we going to fight or not?"

Tails couldn't believe what he just heard. Did that possessed Sonic just say Tails' name? That seemed to be the case, but did this soft-spoken voice really remember his best friend, or was it just a hoax? Tails prayed that it wasn't a hoax. He picked himself up and prepared his mind and his heart. He kept saying that the person he was fighting wasn't Sonic. It wasn't Sonic at all. He pulled out his antimatter arm cannon and latched it on his right hand. It locked in place on his hand. His hand was now a part of the cannon. His heart and his mind were now one with each other. "I'm ready."

"Good."

Sonic decided to make the first move. He jumped into the air and fell back down to the surface with a drop kick that almost collided heavily with Tails head, but he missed. While Sonic was in recoil, this was his chance. He began to charge the cannon. He could feel the energy flow throughout his body. Once the cannon was fully charged, he let loose a small atom of antimatter. If he could land a hit on Sonic with just one of these, it would be all over. He really hoped it counted, because he could only fire one of these. Once the bar on the cannon was full, he let loose a small atom of antimatter at Sonic. He saw the antimatter head in his direction. It was getting closer and closer to landing. Just when Tails thought he could raise his head high, Sonic screeched to a halt and ducked, which resulted in the antimatter just barely missing him. The small, yet very powerful, blast flew into the City Hall and completely annihilated it. Nothing remained in that spot. There was nothing but a giant hole where City Hall was. It was unbelievable.

"Darn it!" Tails shouted. "I missed."

"My turn," Sonic said, maliciously.

Sonic decided that his enemy had to be incarcerated, so he decided to use his speed. He revved up his feet and ran in an enclosed circle around Tails. Tails tried to find an opening so he could get out, but he was stuck frozen in that one position around Sonic. It was so hard to keep up with him because of his intense speed. He quickly became disoriented and dizzy. He fell backward, bobbing his head back and forth, trying to regain his composure before he struck.

However, he couldn't do it in time. Sonic went into an ongoing onslaught of attacks against Tails. He performed uppercuts, drop kicks, and a whole slew of other attacks that came at such a rapid pace that it was almost impossible for Tails to attack. This was insane. Tails' soul was absolutely mangled. He tried to tell himself his lesson, but he lost it. His heart and mind were no longer one. It was scary. What could possibly be worse than being violently killed by your best friend? All of these attacks came as fast as lightning. They hurt like fire, and they stung like acid. Sonic's spin dashes were the worst. Every time Tails tried to get away or defend himself, he'd always get ran over and crushed like an insect. Tails constantly asked himself why. Why was this happening to him? It wasn't fair for this to happen. It wasn't fair that that girl was taking over everything, and it wasn't fair that Sonic, his best friend, was a victim in the whole thing. All he could do was blame himself for not trying to stand up for himself at the beach. If he had showed that girl that he wasn't a coward, maybe this wouldn't have happened. But, no, he didn't.

Sonic decided that it was time to get back to Luna and continue the attacks. First, he needed to make sure that Tails couldn't defend himself any longer. He stomped Tails into the concrete and spin dashed all over his body. In all directions—up, down, left, right—Tails was being destroyed. He was dying. Sonic was crushing him. Tails couldn't move. He was nailed down into the concrete. He was being made a fool of. Sonic took his sweet time running over Tails until he remembered that he had to get back to Luna. He ceased and walked away from the battlefield. He teleported into the sky, heading towards her.

Tails was left mashed into the concrete, unconscious and bleeding.

General Shay peeked out from the smoke and dust. It was difficult to see. Once the smoke cleared, all he could see was a giant crater, and three strands of orange hair blowing from a hole in the ground.

"No..."

* * *

I hope you enjoyed this chapter. The next two chapters will most definately be a bit tougher than this one. Chapter 20 coming soon.


	20. Rebound

Tails has taken a horrible beating. It seems that everything is about to end.

That is, until Tails gets a _very_ special visitor.

* * *

General Shay and the rest of the soldiers peeked from behind the shattered remains of what used to be a bank. They saw nothing. The only thing that was even remotely visible in all of that smoke was a distorted glow from a blue Chaos Emerald. The blanket of dust began to dissipate. They were able to see a lot more clearly, but they really wished they didn't. Upon the dust's departure, they saw three stands of yellow hair sticking erect in the air, popping from a hole in the ground. General Shay didn't want to believe what he thought he was seeing. Was that Tails over there? It couldn't me. If that really was Tails, who was going to save them now? General Shay stood and took his army over to the battlefield. They crossed over chasms and holes permanently planted in the streets sidewalks. Pieces of steel and molten rock began to fall from buildings.

"Is this Armageddon?" one soldier asked.

"It may seem to be so," General Shay solemnly spoke.

They were getting closer to the source of the battle arena. All they had to do was cross over a broken street that protruded from the ground. They figured they had to jump across in order to make it. General Shay decided to go first. He ran at top speed and dove across the giant hole beneath him. He smacked the ground with a powerful thud. He successfully made it across the giant chasm. All the other soldiers followed.

General Shay and his troops walked past all of the debris and shattered glass. It was quiet; far too quiet. It was so quiet that the soldiers could hear the individual heartbeats of each other. It made them nervous, and it made their heartbeats race. They were getting closer to Tails. When they arrived at the scene, they looked beneath them and saw Tails' body; battered, bleeding, and unmoving; on the ground. He looked crushed and destroyed. They just looked down at him, feeling sorry for him. His lifeless corpse was just an eyesore to look at. One of the soldiers began to get nauseous because of the gaseous fumes. The other seven soldiers went and sat the weary soldier on the stump of a nearby lamppost. The hellish fumes penetrated General Shay's nostrils. It was absolutely horrible. The smell was unbearable. He shrunk his nose up as tears fell from pupils. The smell of the rotting bodies around the area combined with that already horrid scent, making for an absolutely terrible experience. General Shay could feel himself getting weaker because of the smell and the overall atmosphere. The sky was the color of fresh blood. It seemed as if Satan himself was in the sky watching them from afar. He still held firm. He wasn't going to let the smell of rotting flesh weaken him. Not today.

He stared at Tails' body for a few more seconds to mourn him properly. He kneeled down on one knee and removed his hat and pressed it against his chest. "Tails, General Shay speaking. I know that you must have fought a hard battle, but…" He paused. It was tough for him to go on because of Tails' body and the putrid stench in the evaporating air. "But, if you can hear me, we love you, Tails. I hope that you can hear my words well. You can't just quit like this. You're stronger than any of us will ever be. We would never have the true courage to jump out there and fight like you did. We would be able to go out there and face the world like you did. You truly have a big heart and your courage is limitless. Tails, if you can hear the words that I am speaking, please…_do not_ ever give up," he said.

He put his helmet back on and walked away. He walked towards his army, who was comforting their nauseous companion.

"General Shay!" Private Washington saluted. "Is Tails okay?"

"I'm sorry, my fellow soldiers. It seems that we've lost him."

The soldier's eyes widened. They couldn't even fathom what they just heard. Did Tails really die? "I'm sorry, gentlemen, but I'm afraid that Miles "Tails" Prower, the one that we've known for so long, is gone. I strongly and sincerely apologize for our loss."

Little did General Shay know, something special was going to happen. In the hole in which Tails was lying, somebody began to speak. It was Sonic. Sonic's spirit was talking to him, trying to tell him something. "Tails, can you hear me? Are you there?"

"S-s-sonic. I-is that you?"

"Yeah, it's me, buddy. I hope that you can hear me. I know you can do it, Tails. You've always had the strength within you to win. You can win. I know you can. You've shown me countless times what your bravery can do. Now, come on and show it again."

"But Sonic, I-I don't know if I can. Luna is too strong for me. I'm scared of her. Plus, I'm hurt really bad. I don't think that I can even move."

"That wasn't me, Tails. That will never be me. None of them are our friends at this moment in time. You have to fight back against the enemy, Tails. I know you can do it. _You_ know you can do it. Are you willing to fight for what's right?"

"Of course I am."

"Well, since you're ready, I want you to go up there and fight! Fight for your friends and fight for me. But more importantly, fight for you, because you're more important than any of us could ever be. Do you know how lucky you are to have friends like us to have your back whenever things got tough? You've always had friends to stick themselves out there for you. Now, it's your turn to do the same thing for them. Their lives are at stake, and now it's your turn to step up."

"I'm sorry that I let you down, Sonic," he solemnly said. His eyes began to saturate as a single tear flowed down his face.

"Hey, hey, come on, now. Stop beating yourself up. You didn't let me down. You could _never _let me down. Now, I believe that I saw the Chaos Emeralds in a duffle bag nearby. Since she didn't get them, it's your chance to use them. Come on, Tails. Believe in yourself. You can do it!"

Nearby the stump of the lamppost, the soldiers held their heads down as they mourned Tails' death. If only they could have done something to stop this nightmare from happening, none of this would have ever been conceived as even being a tangible reality. But, unfortunately, it was. As they mourned for him, they heard something. It sounded like something was shining. It felt warm. General Shay looked up and saw a glowing white light coming from behind the still standing, but very fragile, Twinkle Park entrance. He also noticed a similar glow coming from the Tails' hole. What was going on? Was Tails going to ascend to Heaven? Were the angels going to take him away? Tails rose from the ground like a mannequin and a large amount of white light flowed around him. At the same time, the seven Chaos Emeralds began to float as well. They spun around Tails and slowly crept their way into his body. Just then, he was engulfed an entire hue of colors. General Shay carefully observed everything that happened periodically. It was amazing. It seemed like the final shimmer of light from above shone down on them all. Tails emerged from his spontaneous transformation arising as a brand new person. He was now Turbo Tails. Also, he couldn't go anywhere without his Super Flickies by his side to aid him.

General Shay walked towards him and saluted. "Good luck. Be careful, Tails."

"Thank you, General Shay," he said, exchanging the salute back at him.

* * *

Anxious as to how the final fight will turn out? Well, you're going to have to wait. However, I do think that you'll enjoy it. Chapter 21, the final chapter, is coming soon.


	21. Defeated

Tails and Luna finally meet.

Who will win in this final fight?

* * *

Tails and the general exchanged salutations before the final fight. Tails was so excited. He felt as if his heart was about to leap out his chest. He never thought that he could have ever gotten this far without the love and spiritual determination of Sonic. General Shay bid a final goodbye to Tails before he made his departure.

"Take them out, Tails. We're all counting on you."

"Thank you, General Shay. I promise I'll do my best," he said.

With that final salutation, Tails was off. The golden Flickies followed alongside him. He spun in full motion as he broke through the clouds. He looked behind him and saw General Shay and his army looking up at him. Tails promised to make them _and _Sonic proud. He could feel himself leaving Earth's atmosphere. It felt different since he wasn't in the Tornado. It was a very different and unusual feeling. Being in space like this without any protective helmet or anything space suit was truly weird. He figured this is what Sonic can do. He had only done this a few times. The only real time he remembers actually being transformed while in space is when they first had to stop Eggman from stealing the Master Emerald. It was a pretty epic feeling for him back then. Now, it seemed like the very first time he's ever done it because it had been so long ever since Angel Island. Tails gathered his bearings and continued through space. He could feel himself leaving the atmosphere of Earth. He was entering the stratosphere. It was very cold up there. It's a good thing he was moving at a reasonably fast speed otherwise he would have frozen in place. Once he left the stratosphere, he proceeded towards the mesosphere. By this time, he could easily make it through the layers now.

His thoughts were racing around the fact of whether or not he was going to defeat Luna. She was a very cold-hearted person, not to mention strong and smart. Plus, she commanded a powerful army of Tails' best friends to back her up. Just her name alone stuck fear and terror into his heart. He considered turning around and heading back home, but his Flicky friends convinced him otherwise. He decided to stay and fight. It was the only way to save his friends and save the world. What was even more overwhelming was that he not only had to save the world, he probably had to save the entire galaxy. That was a gigantic task. If only Sonic were here. He deserved to do this more than he did. In no time at all, he saw Luna and her army up ahead. She was floating in the empty pocket of space, glowing brightly. He could see that she was up to something. He needed to find out what it was without being detected. After finally departing from Earth, he carefully floated behind a nearby asteroid. He peeked his head above the asteroid to get a better view of the entire thing.

Luna looked menacing as she gave her army orders. "Very good. Have you disposed of Tails, Sonic?"

Sonic nodded with a confirming grunt. Little did they know, Tails was still alive, and he was ready to fight back.

"Good. He was never any threat to us to begin with. Now that he's out of the way, we can proceed with our plans. Everything has been going well so far without Tails distracting us. The first thing that will be done is the destruction of these worthless planets. They're completely symmetrical, so they should be easy to destroy. I'll be right back," she said.

Tails lost sight again. All these asteroids were getting in his way. He could just barely see what was going on. He did manage to get a glimpse of Luna hopping from planet to planet in several dancing-like motions. What was she doing? Was she going to put on some kind of show for aliens? It was so confusing. After she finished her little routine, she immediately teleported back to her army. She said that it was done. Tails was as confused as ever.

"Well, all that's left is to wait."

_Wait for what?_

Luna was about to proceed to scour the universe for more planets and objects to take over, but something was bothering her. Somebody was there, watching them, recording their every move. Luna wondered who it was. It had to be one possible explanation. If Sonic didn't defeat Tails, he had to be stalking them. Luna called his name. "Tails, come out!"

_What?!_

"I know you're there, Tails! Don't think that you can hide from me! I can smell your fear from a mile away!"

Tails' heart was pounding. His throat became dry, and his courage dropped like a rock. He began to sweat like a dog. How did she know that he was back there? Everything around him died. There was nowhere left for him to hide now. All that was left was him, his Flickies, and Sonic's spirit to lead him. Tails jumped out from behind the asteroid with his hands balled up and his eyes beaming with fire. His body flowed with energy from the Chaos Emeralds. His Super Flickies were by his side as well, ready and willing just as much as Tails was.

"Hmmhmmhmm. Welcome, Tails. I'm actually very impressed that you made it as far as you did. Honestly, I thought that you'd be dead when you fought Sonic here, but I guess I was wrong about you. You're much more vigilant than I thought."

"I told you that anything could happen."

"Well, you are right. Anything can happen, and believe me, something can and will happen. Since this is your final moments of life, I may as well tell you what I plan to do. I plan to destroy everything. Why, may you ask? Let's start from the beginning. I used to have an army in the past that consisted of six members, each one containing certain unique abilities. Together, we dominated planets, destroyed homes, and took innocent lives without sacrifice. It was amazing," she laughed. "We were unstoppable. Nobody could stop us. In short time, we conquered three galaxies. It was amazing. However, my army soon rebelled. They disobeyed me in the worst ways. Action had to be taken, and swift punishment had to be carried out."

"What? Y-you killed them?"

"That's right. They should have listened to me. Now, I plan to use your friends as my new army members to conquer other galaxies. I can see that they are very obedient. They will continue to serve me for a long time, and there isn't anything that you can do about it."

_What a heartless monster. First, she destroys her own army, then she steals my friends away from me! I have to do something._

Tails was gripped by fear. Just the sound of her voice made him want to run and hide. It was absolutely horrible. What was he going to do if Luna made off with his friends? If that happened, all he could do is sit there and watch in tearful sorrow as his friends were being controlled like puppets. Luna was the puppet master, and his friends were the puppets. He wasn't going to let that happen, no matter what.

"Well, if you're not going to do anything, I guess we can go now. It was nice meeting you again, Tails. We'll see you later," she chuckled.

"Stop!" Tails commanded her.

"What? Do you have something to say?"

"Yeah! Um...I...I don't think so! You're not going to get away with this!"

"Excuse me?" she said. "What did you just say?"

"I said you're not going to get away with this!"

Luna chuckled under her breath. "Yeah, right. I can't believe what I just heard. If you really believe that you can stop me...HA! That'll be the day. As a matter of fact, I think that I'm going to sit this one out. I'm going to let my army take care of this little annoyance. Sonic, Knuckles, Shadow, attack Tails."

Did he just hear what he thought he heard? Maybe he was hearing things, but he thought he heard her command Sonic, Knuckles, _and_ Shadow to attack him. Oh, God, was he in trouble. If he had a hard time fighting Sonic by himself, just imagine how much of a challenge it's going to be to take on all _three_ of them. "Oh, no. There's so much wrong with this. Oh, man. Those guys are far stronger than I am. I'm not ready to fight!"

Just then, the spirit of Sonic spoke to him. "Don't worry, Tails. You are ready. You can do it. You know you can do it. Just try your best."

"All right, Sonic. I'll do it for you."

Tails was finally ready to fight after a little pep talk from the spirit of his best friend and motivational teacher. Luna flew to a nearby asteroid and watched her top three army members battle with Tails. All three of them zoomed towards him at full force, arms outstretched and ready to strike. Tails lifted his fists nervously, and he felt like he was surrounded by death, but he knew that somewhere deep down inside him there was still some shred of hope within him, even if it was so miniscule. Almost in a flash, they were in his face, throwing punches. They came at his very fast, each one about as fast as a lightning strike. Tails found it hard to keep up with their various movements. Each punch and kick felt like they were being shot out of a giant cannon. Tails was barely able to defend himself because their attacks were coming at him with such intensity and speed. No one was here to help him, and there Luna was just sitting back and watching them have their way with him. The violent intensity of their attacks could be felt by the air that flew across his face. Their moves were impressive and impassable in every measure. Tails couldn't find an opening anywhere where he could land a decent hit. They defended themselves like fortresses. But, he was going to make them crumble. His Super Flickies were having an equally difficult time trying to land a solid hit as well. They also kept their distance from their ferocious attacks. Just then, as Shadow was about to perform the Chaos Blast and finish the battle for good, Tails found an opening; as Shadow was charging. Now was the perfect opportunity to grandstand them. Just as Shadow was about to launch Tails and his Flickies into oblivion, he was immediately blasted in the gut by the three Super Flickies. Tails finished him off with a powerful uppercut to the chin. That's one down, two to go.

Luna was speechless. "What the hell? This can't be."

With Shadow out of commission, Sonic and Knuckles were still on the battlefield. If Shadow was taken out, then those two will wield the same result. Tails put his guard up. So did the lifeless bodies of Sonic and Knuckles. Little did they know, Tails had something up his sleeve. Almost out of nowhere, Sonic heard a chirping noise. It sounded like it was coming from behind him. He turned around and saw the Flicky behind him. He didn't have enough time to react in time before he was smacked across the face a few times. Tails was hopping up and down in victory, cheering on his Flicky pals.

Meanwhile on the asteroid, Luna watched the losing battle with impatience and fraudulent anger. Her blood was boiling. She was absolutely furious. How was she losing to that half-pint Tails? He wasn't like this when they were back on Earth. What in the world happened to him? Maybe it was her. Maybe her recruits were so weak that they could take out a mere eight-year-old fox. She wasn't going to have this. She was _not_ going to lose like this. This was unacceptable. She didn't want to jump in to the fight, but at this point, she had no other choice. "That does it. No more! Sonic, Knuckles, Shadow, stand down! Now! I'll handle this from now on. You three are obviously far too weak to take on this pathetic waste of space. Stay down. I'll take care of this."

Tails felt like he was invincible. He felt as if Luna was going to fall at his feet, no matter how powerful she was. At this point, he was surprised that _she _didn't fall back.

"Tails, you are going to pay dearly for what you've done. I thought that my army members could take down a mere boy and his bird friends, but apparently they're all too weak for that. So, are you ready?"

"Yeah! I'm ready!" he said, confident of victory.

"Very well. Welcome to the beginning of the end, Tails."

Luna knew that Tails had no chance. It didn't matter how hard he fought, he still had a long way to go if he wanted to ever get anywhere. Luna decided that she would take it a bit easy on him. She didn't want to damage him too badly before she killed him. It wouldn't be fun if she killed him immediately. She could see that he was ready to fight. Maybe she was wrong about him. Maybe he was going to carry the day on his shoulders. That wasn't going to happen.

"Die!" Luna said menacingly.

Luna charged at him with fists flying across the blank darkness of space. It was weird, but Tails was keeping up with her moves. He stayed on par with her. She was firing at him with pinpoint accuracy, but he was still following her moves as if he knew what was happening. He never did this before. Nothing could possibly be this exhilarating than this. This fearsome enemy was being kept at bay by someone who originally was weak. It was amazing. He kept his guard up the entire time they were fighting. He could see the anger in Luna's face. She was getting frustrated. While she wasn't in the best position, now was his chance to strike. Luna was about to launch a kick to Tails, but she was soon intercepted by his Super Flickies. Luna was already being handled. Tails got a few good blows on her person before she recovered and flew back towards her army. She had miscalculated something because she was getting beaten. It was very strange and it severely damaged not only her person, but it severely damaged her ego. She had never been beaten by someone who was originally much weaker than she was. Granted, when she fought with Shadow, she had a good challenge, and he was obviously stronger than she was, but because her advantages during the night, she was just as strong as he was. She wasn't going to go down like this.

"Tails…"

"I told you that anything could happen," Tails said, still retaining his confidence in his grin.

Luna felt insulted by his disgusting smile. "You are a very well-balanced fighter, Tails. I applaud you. However, I have some very bad news for you. It ends today."

"What do you mean by that?" he asked.

"Well, I must confess that I've been taking it easy on you. I honestly thought that you'd be real easy to fight because of what happened on Earth, but I can see that you have improved, but I can very well see that you are now insignificant. I suggest that you quit right now unless you want to die."

"You're bluffing," Tails said. Tails tried to call her bluff, but he could see the look in her eyes from where he was standing. She was _not_ bluffing.

"Really?"

Luna glowed a bright white and charged him at full speed. Tails put his hands up and guarded himself. Luna broke through his guard easily and gave him a knee—at full force—to the gut. Tails had never felt anything that painful. It was as if all of time had stopped just to let all of the pain protrude into him, lay its eggs in his stomach, and take turns smacking his stomach around. Everything around him vanished. He coughed up blood and held his head down. Luna had him now. Luna dug her knee deeper into his stomach. He was dying and no one was here to save him. The pain was so intense. It felt like someone was crawling away at his body with a knife. The knife cut deeper into his flesh as it scarred his insides into pieces. It hurt so much. He couldn't take it anymore. Luna watched as tears flowed from his eyes. One of the Flickies tried to fly in and try to help Tails by attacking Luna, but all she did was grab the bird and crush it in-between her fingers. She let the bird fall down to Earth. She took so much pleasure in his suffering. She decided to give him a severe beating. She barraged him with a flurry of punches. There was nothing Tails could do to defend himself. The Flickies could do nothing of any kind to help him. Tails was feeling the full wrath of Luna, and there wasn't anything he could do. Luna threw powerful punches and kicks at him without effort. Luna finished it all off with a strong roundhouse kick to the face. Tails flew backwards. He was left floating. His Super Flickies went to see if he was okay. They couldn't wake him up. He was completely unconscious. His bloody face was beautiful to her.

"Tails, do you understand now what you're up against? You are fighting against someone who has years of experience. I don't think that I need to say anything else. You said it yourself. "Anything can happen," and something did happen. You dug your own grave when you chose to fight me. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got some planets to destroy."

Was it all over? Was there really no other person to save the world—or the universe? It seemed so. As Luna flew away, she could hear a voice calling her. It was quiet and small like a mouse, but she could hear it. It sounded like Tails. He was still alive, but he was hanging on by a single thread. She couldn't believe that he survived from a beating that brutal. Weak and crippled after the killer beating, Tails tried his best to get up, but his stomach was still out of commission after that last attack, so he became a temporary vegetable with a small voice. "Luna, come back."

"What are you going to do to stop me?"

"Please don't hurt my friends."

"Don't worry. I won't hurt them. They'll just follow my order, harboring them to my power. They are under my command from now on."

Tails couldn't fight anymore, but he had to do something. "I mean, you could have gotten people who were ten times stronger that my friends. Honestly, they won't help you very much in your plan to dominate. They aren't very strong. They won't be of much use to you, Luna. You should have gotten somebody else. So, maybe you should just give my friends back, okay?"

Luna saw what he was doing. He was trying to make her quit and give up. Did he really think that she was that naïve? Luna decided to play along. "Hmm, I thought about it, and you're right. They are weak. They are of no use to me. That's why you beat them as easily as you did. They are weak and they are nothing to me."

"That's right. You should have gotten somebody else."

"In fact, they are completely worthless to me. They are utter wastes of space. Just looking at them desensitizes my air and thus, I am completely deflowered. In fact, I think that I'll play along with you."

"What do you mean?"

"Attention!"

"Yes, Commander Luna!"

"Every single one of you line up and stand of the surface of one of those planets. Immediately!"

"Yes, Commander Luna!"

Then, almost like sentry bots, they each stood on the surface of a planet. They just stood there and looked forward as if nothing happened. What was going on? Tails was finally able to stand up, but he stood with a limp because his stomach was still in excruciating pain. He was confused as to what was going on. "Luna, what are you doing now?"

"You're awake. Good. Since you asked and there's nothing you can do, I may as well tell you. I decided to change my plans around a bit. I was originally going to use them to help me conquer the universe, one by one, but I've had a change of heart. I'm not going to use your friends. I'll explain why. You see, I have an ability that lets me drop a bomb within the core of whichever planet I choose, and I just so happen to choose the nearest planets near Earth, and to top it off, since you said that they are useless, well, I think that made my point."

"Y-you're g-going to blow them up?"

"That's right!" she laughed maniacally. "I purposely fell into your little lie. You really thought that you could stop me, but you were mistaken."

"You can't! Hold on, guys! I'm coming!"

"Ah, ah, ah. Don't even go near them, Tails. One snap of my fingers, and then they go boom. We wouldn't want that to happen, now would we?"

Tails couldn't believe it. It was all over. There wasn't anything left for him to do. All that he ever worked for, everything that he ever earned, and all of the good times he had with them all, it was all gone. Tails' situation couldn't be any worse than this. Luna was too powerful for him, and he blamed himself for not defending himself when he was on Emerald Coast. He just wished that there was someway to stop all of this mayhem and horror, but obviously, wishes were far from helping him at this point. There was no hope left. His entire last ditch efforts to save his friends had been crumbled into dust before his eyes. He lowered his head and cried.

Just then, a gentle voice began to speak to him. It was small and soft, almost like the coo of a dove. "Miles "Tails" Prower, I presume. I assume you wish to know who I am," the voice said. The voice appeared before him as a silhouette of a girl. "Hello, Tails. My name is Yashima the Hybrid. I was a former member of Luna's old army. I can see that you are troubled, and I wish to help you."

"What can I do? It's all over. I've let everybody down."

"Do not worry anymore, Tails. I will assist you. This convoluted demon has no right to terrorize people any longer."

Just then, Tails felt a strange presence in the air. Stars began to shimmer and encircle around him. He began to glow with great intensity. What was happening? What was she doing to him? He could feel his energy rising upwards to new limits, new heights that he would have never been able to reach all by himself, no matter how hard he tried. The stars formed a constellation around him. It stood for power and honesty. Yashima held these stars in place as their power flowed into Tails. The energy felt incredible. It felt like nothing he had ever experienced before. He glowed with a strong presence that could be only described as life-changing. Yashima accomplished what she had to do. The riddle had been solved, and now it was time for her to leave. She disappeared into the emptiness of space, leaving nothing behind as she left forever. Tails was about to thank her, but she had already left. If only she stayed, he could have thanked her for granting him the powers from the heavens to defeat Luna. He hoped that with this newly founded power bestowed to him, Luna would finally go down.

"Hey!"

"What is it, Tails? Have you finally accepted defeat? I would love to hear that."

There was a quick interlude of silence before Tails rushed forward and clashed with Luna. Luna and Tails exchanged fists back and forth, reading each other's moves like a book. Neither one of them could land a punch. A flurry of fists and kicks were flying everywhere. Tails was able to keep up with Luna, but it was only a matter of time before he was overtaken. Luna was backed up onto Pluto, one of the planets that she placed a bomb inside of. Both of them were evenly matched up, but it wasn't going to be for long. Tails was running low on energy. He had to finish this. He flew back and left a force field on the planet's surface, which sustained and locked Luna in. She was unable to escape. This gave Tails all of the time he needed to rescue his friends. He ran to each of them and carefully removed the interface devices from the ligaments on which they were placed. They slowly woke up one by one, but they soon became unconscious. As they fell back, Tails grabbed each one and placed them in an energy sphere that he had with him. He didn't know when he would ever get any use from this thing, but after three years, he finally got a chance to use it properly. Once all of them were finally evacuated, Tails snapped his fingers and the planets exploded in a line, one by one.

Luna was trapped with no way out. The planets were all exploding in a distinct pattern. It wasn't long until the massive chain explosion reached her. Luna pressed and scratched at the force-field, trying her best to escape before it was too late, but she couldn't. There was too much energy flowing through it. Her life was now a ticking time bomb. Just a few seconds, and she was finished. She tried just about everything, even teleportation, but the force-field interfered with her powers. As far as she could tell, she was already finished. Everything that she worked for was now for naught. It was all ruined by a child. Luna thought about it, and she finally figured it out. Golden, victory, enemy…the one that was supposed to defeat her was Tails. The victor would walk away with his friends successfully and the enemy will die. It was finally solved. Just then, a soft voice spoke and said to her…

_You were too late to save yourself._

BBBBBOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM!!!

It was over. The reign of evil that had been terrorizing the Earth and everything that the universe is had finally been stopped forever. Tails could finally go home and rest without having to worry about death again, because nothing would ever separate him from his friends ever again. Tails took this opportunity to make a promise to be braver than he ever was. No matter what came to him, he would not be afraid to try and nothing would ever break him again. Now that the evil was gone forever, he could finally return to the life he once knew without distraction. The evils of the world would just have to keep trying because as long as good prevails, they will never win. Before he left, he stared at Sonic's face and said…

"Thank you, Sonic."

_The End_

_

* * *

__  
It takes but one positive thought when given a chance to survive and thrive to overpower an entire army of negative thoughts._

_-_**Robert H. Schuller (1926--)**


End file.
